Editor's Pick
Half of all mortgages withdrawn in just three weeks
Guest Author:
Lana ClementsThe removal of thousands of products is hoped to be a temporary measure
Lenders have halved the number of mortgages on offer in a little more than three weeks, in reaction to the coronavirus situation.
On March 11 there were 5,239 products available, but today this has dropped to 2,768, according to Moneyfacts data.
In the last five days alone there have been 424 deals pulled.
The figures cover residential mortgages only and don’t include buy to let or other specialist products.
It comes after the government advised that all home moves should be postponed until social restrictions have been relaxed.
However, it is thought lenders will bring more products back to the market in the coming weeks as the situation settles down.
Eleanor Williams, spokeswoman at Moneyfacts, said: “The recent withdrawal of many higher loan-to-value mortgages and home purchase products is expected to be a temporary measure while lenders reassess risk, their internal operational capacity, and work out what their range of mortgages may look like moving forward.
“It is likely that lenders may be assessing how they intend to approach widespread extenuating circumstances, such as gaps developing in household incomes and also other economic impacts that may directly affect the affordability of household borrowings.”