Average UK mortgage rates have climbed above 5% for the first time in months as lenders rapidly reprice products in response to rising swap rates.
New data from Moneyfacts shows the average 2-year fixed residential mortgage rate rose to 5.01% on 11 March, up from 4.84% just five days earlier. The increase takes the typical 2-year fix to its highest level since 6 August 2025.
The average 5-year fixed rate also moved higher, reaching 5.09%, compared with 4.96% on 6 March. That marks its highest point since 26 June 2025.
Across the market as a whole, the overall average mortgage rate has climbed to 5.04%, up from 4.91% at the end of last week and the highest level recorded since early August last year.
HUNDREDS OF DEALS WITHDRAWN
The rate rises have been accompanied by a sharp reduction in available mortgage products. Since the start of the week more than 472 residential mortgage deals have been withdrawn from the market, representing around 6.5% of all products.
As a result, the total number of residential mortgage products available to borrowers has fallen to 7,164.
According to Moneyfacts, this represents the largest drop in product availability since the market turmoil that followed the September 2022 mini-Budget.
That period saw the biggest single-day withdrawal on record when 935 residential mortgage products – more than a quarter of the market at the time – disappeared on 27 September 2022.
TURBULENT MARKET
Adam French, Head of Consumer Finance at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, says: “Recent days have been some of the most turbulent in the UK mortgage market since the aftermath of the September 2022 mini-Budget.
“In the last 48 hours almost 500 residential mortgage products have been withdrawn as lenders reacted to rapidly rising swap rates.
“However, the scale is nowhere near the shock seen in late September 2022 when 935 products, which accounted for more than a quarter of the market at the time, disappeared in a single day.”
“It’s unwelcome news for borrowers.”
“Many of these deals are likely to return within the next few days and weeks as lenders adjust their pricing to higher rate expectations. Moneyfacts average mortgage rates have also jumped considerably higher, with the typical 2-year fixed rate now at 5.01% for the first time since August 2025 and the average 5-year fix surging past 5% to reach 5.09%.
“It’s unwelcome news for borrowers, as the prospect of falling mortgage rates has quickly given way to rate rises. How far they could go is now heavily dependent on how global markets and inflation expectations evolve as conflict in the Middle East unfolds.”
