The number of lenders able to provide loans requested by borrowers fell over the last six months, despite firms increasing maximum loan sizes, according to the MBT Affordability Index.

Platform Mortgage Broker Tools, which runs the index, says in June, the average largest loan size available to customers was £243,250 – an increase of almost 4% on January.

However, the percentage of lenders able to meet the loan amount requested by a borrower, fell from 80% in January to 73% last month.

The firm says that for first-time buyers the average largest loan size available jumped by more than 13% to £261,290 in June compared to January, “driven by the increasing number of options at higher LTVs”. 

But adds that while 86% of lenders were able to meet the loan requested by first-time buyers in January, this had fallen to 72% in June. 

The MBT Affordability Index tracks the monthly spread between the average loan amount request and the highest and lowest results from more than 40 lenders for the same case. 

For the self-employed, the average largest loan size available lifted by more than 5% to £233,300 in June from January, but the percentage of affordable lenders slipped from 71% to 69% over the same period.

Mortgage Broker Tools chief executive Tanya Toumadj says: “The latest edition of the MBT Affordability Index has thrown up a really interesting trend. 

“Even though the lenders are loosening restrictions and offering larger loan sizes, borrowers are finding it harder to secure the loan size they require, and we’re seeing fewer lender options available than we did at the start of the year. 

“This isn’t because borrowers are asking for more – the average requested loan size hasn’t changed. So, what’s happening?

“As we emerge from the pandemic and lenders evolve their criteria and risk appetite, we’re seeing an increasingly diverse approach to affordability calculations and this means borrowers, with their own unique set of circumstances, are able to secure very different loan sizes from one lender to the next. 

“The good news is that the average maximum loan available is higher now than the start of the year and, while the number of affordable lenders is falling, there are still plenty of affordable options – if you know where to look.

“Comprehensive and accurate research can prove the difference between a mortgage enquiry successfully progressing to completion or falling at the first hurdle.”