Low-deposit mortgages are back as lenders return to market

As the market emerges from a Covid-related slowdown, low-deposit mortgages have made a return to the UK property market.

According to recent research from Moneyfacts, mortgage products for homeowners with a deposit of 10% property's value have risen more than fourfold compared with the low levels of last summer. These records will come as a relief to first-time buyers, who no doubt found it hard to step on to the property ladder in 2020.

In September last year, only 44 mortgage products with a 10% deposit requirement were available. On top of this, first-time buyers were faced with even more pressures as poor savings rates and increasing house prices began to dampen the market. There are now 197 mortgage products available with a 10% deposit offering on the market, with some big lenders returning in recent weeks. There is also an increase in mortgage products offering a 15% deposit or higher, although this choice was already much greater.

These statistics are great news for first-time buyers, who can now see the light at the end of the tunnel for their home-buying dream. First-time buyers were hit the hardest during the pandemic - most lenders deem younger buyers as the most risk due to high redundancy levels. Although the mortgage rates currently available on the market are not as attractive as they had been prior to the pandemic, as the market begins to open the competition will help to push down costs.