Data shows lenders are still able to provide the loan sizes that borrowers want
The gap between the minimum and the maximum loan offered to an average mortgage customer is now at the widest it has been since Mortgage Broker Tools (MBT) started reporting the data.
The latest MBT Affordability Index found that in June 2022, the gap reached more than £133,000, up substantially from just over £104,000 in the same month of 2021, and the highest seen since MBT began recording this data in January 2021, when the gap was slightly more than £88,000.
“The increased cost-of-living is now being factored into lender affordability calculators,” Tanya Toumadj (pictured), chief executive at Mortgage Broker Tools, said. “The impact of this is greater on those with lower incomes and, as such, this month’s MBT Affordability Index has seen a significant decrease in the average minimum loan size available to customers. Consequently, we are seeing greater disparity between maximum and minimum loans available to borrowers.”
MBT, however, pointed out that while the spread of loan sizes available to mortgage applicants is as large as it ever has been, the proportion of mortgage enquiries where customers are offered the loan size they want has remained stable at 76%.
“There are still lenders able to provide the loan sizes that borrowers are requesting, and our data shows that more than three-quarters of mortgage enquiries are still able to secure the loan size requested from at least one lender,” Toumadj said.
“In this environment, comprehensive research among a wide group of lenders is vital to ensure that clients are able to access the loan size they need.”
