More than 40% of mortgages withdrawn as market reels after mini-budget
More than 40% of available mortgages have been withdrawn from the market since the UK government announced its mini-budget on Friday, the latest figures show.
Lenders began suspending products on Monday as they struggled to price them amid the uncertainty on financial markets – and the volatility and number of offers being removed have snowballed this week.
The latest data from Moneyfacts, which monitors the sector, revealed on Thursday that another 321 mortgages had been withdrawn overnight, taking the total to 1,621, with 2,340 remaining on sale.
During the previous 24-hour period, 935 packages were pulled, double the previous record of 462 at the start of the pandemic lockdowns.
According to the financial research firm Defaqto, more than 20 providers have withdrawn their entire fixed-rate mortgage range.
Some of the biggest lenders said they would be revising their offers within days, while others preferred to wait until the the financial markets had calmed.
HSBC, TSB and Kent Reliance were among the lenders to have withdrawn products by Thursday, said Moneyfacts.
Katie Brain of Defaqto said: “What products are left are changing at a rapid pace, lenders seem to be really unsure of what to offer and what price with so many changes in the money markets at the moment.”
First-time buyers have reported having their plans to buy a home wrecked by the escalating cost of mortgage finance.
Homeowners with fixed-rate products, most of them lasting two years, say the cost of remortgaging has doubled the interest payments, adding more than £2,000 a year to the typical annual cost.
The cost of mortgages soared on Monday after financial traders pushed up the cost of borrowing to UK institutions. Forecasts that the Bank of England’s base
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