Which lenders have removed their mortgages as hundreds…

Which lenders have removed their mortgages as hundreds more deals pulled

Hundreds of mortgage deals have vanished from the market in recent days after the mini-Budget triggered market mayhem.

Several lenders including Halifax, Virgin Money and Skipton Building Society have pulled their fixed-rate products for new customers.

Smaller lenders including the Scottish Building Society, Darlington Building Society, CHL Mortgages, Bank of Ireland, Clydesdale Bank, Paragon, Leek United Building Society and The Nottingham for Intermediaries have also taken the same action.

Analysis of the market by Moneyfacts.co.uk found that on Friday, the day of the mini-Budget, 3,961 residential mortgage products were available.

By Monday this week, the total had fallen to 3,880, and by Tuesday it had shrunk further to 3,596 deals - a reduction of 365 compared to Friday - analysis for the PA news agency found.

Rightmove's housing expert Tim Bannister said the decreasing deals were a “bitter pill” for people wanting to move home and those with ending fixed terms.

“We're monitoring activity carefully in real-time, and for now what we're seeing is that the housing market's very much still moving,” Mr Bannister said.

“The number of potential buyers requesting to view properties on Monday and Tuesday was down 3 per cent compared with other Mondays and Tuesdays this month, and demand is still significantly higher than the supply of homes for sale.

He added: “Also, the number of sales being agreed on Tuesday was at its highest number in a day since early August, perhaps as some people rush to get a mortgage before rates rise further.

“We've seen demand softening in the past few months, but buyer demand is still 20 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic five-year average, house prices are 15 per cent higher than they were two years ago, and the overall number of homes going through conveyancing is 40 per cent higher than in 2019.”

Brokers have said they expect lenders to return with new deals in the coming days.

As of Wednesday morning, there were 2,661 residential mortgage products available. In comparison, on Friday morning this figure totalled 3,961.

Today, this figure stands at 2,340 - according to research by money comparison experts, Moneyfacts.co.uk

Brokers believe products will return in the coming days (EPA)

The overall choice of mortgage deals remains significantly higher than it was during the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, which also caused significant economic uncertainty.

A particular low point was in October 2020, when 2,259 mortgage deals were available. During the pandemic, low-deposit mortgage deals, often used by first-time buyers, were particularly at risk of being pulled as lenders were concerned about “riskier” lending.

But this time around, the mortgage withdrawals appear to be more evenly spread across different loan-to-value (LTV) brackets.