Before the credit crunch, the margin above the Base Rate added by mortgage lenders to tracker mortgages was generally stable in the region of 0.5% to 0.75%, depending on the length of the tracker term, Defaqto found.

In today’s increasingly difficult conditions all this has changed, according to its research. Lender’s higher margins have, on average, more than negated the half percent decrease in the Base Rate since the end of last year.

For two-year trackers, the period with the most plans on offer, the average margin above the Base Rate increased from 0.49% to 1.17% over the eight months since July 2007, an increase of 139%, while the Base Rate fell from 5.75% to 5.25% over the same period.

It’s a similar picture for three-year trackers with the average margin increasing from 0.52% to 1.14%, an increase of nearly 120%. For the other main mortgage term products, there have been increases, but not by quite as much, Defaqto revealed.

In addition, application fees have seen huge uplifts since July, according to Defaqto. Fees for a typical two-year mortgage have gone up from £688 in July 2007 to £1,005 currently – a 46% increase. This gets worse at the tracker term increases, rising to 139% for term trackers.

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David Black, principal consultant for banking at Defaqto, said: “With banks and building societies trying to repair their balance sheets in an atmosphere of financial mayhem, it is hardly surprising it is the poor consumer who is caught in the middle and is having to pay more for less choice. It is almost as though we are going back to the days when lenders felt they were doing you a favour by offering you a mortgage.”