Availability of high-LTV deals at 17-year high: Moneyfacts Mortgage Finance Gazette

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The number of deals for borrowers with small deposits has reached its highest level for 17 years, research by Moneyfacts has found.

The availability of deals at 90% and 95% loan-to-value is at a peak not seen since March 2008.

In the 95% loan-to-value, the number of deals has now reached 442, while in the 90% tier there are now 845 products.

This compares to 575 deals at 95% LTV and 957 deals at 90% LTV in March 2008, which is the last time borrowers had a wider choice of high LTV products.

Month-on-month, across the full range of LTV tiers, average rates on two- and five-year fixed rates fell by 7 basis points and by 4 bps to 5.32% and 5.18%, respectively.

The average five-year fixed rate is 21 basis points lower than a year ago and the average two-year fixed is 48 bps lower.

The gap between two and five-year fixes is 14 bps, which is the lowest it has been since October 2022 when shorter-term deals started to become more expensive.

The average two-year tracker rate rose to 5.2% and the average standard variable rate fell to 7.6%.

Moneyfacts finance expert Rachel Springall says: “The flourishing choice of low deposit mortgages will no doubt be welcomed by borrowers who are either looking to remortgage or are a first-time buyer. 

“The Government has been clear that it wants lenders to do more to boost UK growth, and so a rise in product availability for aspiring homeowners is a healthy step in the right direction. 

“However, there is still much more room for improvement, particularly as the choice of deals at 95% loan-to-value represents just 6% of all deals available to borrowers across fixed and variable mortgages.

“Mortgage affordability for borrowers with small deposits has also improved month-on-month, as there has been a drop in rates. 

“The average two-year fixed mortgage rate for borrowers with a 5% deposit at 5.81% is its lowest point in over two years (5.54% – October 2022).”