Website reports further decline in mortgage loan availability

Mortgage deals continue to be pulled from the market, Moneyfacts.co.uk has said.

According to the website, 3,281 loans are currently available to mortgage borrowers in the UK.

This is well down on July 2007, just prior to the credit crunch, when there were over 13,000 mortgages on the market.

Since then, the freeze on inter-bank lending has led to severe restrictions in consumer credit – with risk-averse banks keeping rates high and rejecting customers with patchy credit histories in greater numbers.

This has contributed to the decline in house prices, which have dropped over 12 per cent in the past year according to Nationwide.

Darren Cook at Moneyfacts.co.uk commented: "Choice may be reducing, but there are still enough products out there for borrowers to try and find a suitable deal that suits individual circumstances.

"The difficulties lie in the lack of liquidity within the market and providers having no appetite or being unable to lend on a larger scale."