Steep decline of mortgages continues

The number of mortgage deals continues to shrink as lenders ration their home loans in favour of those with a large deposit. The number of deals is down 65 per cent in the past year and 25 per cent since the start of November, and more than half the available loans now require a deposit of 25 per cent or more. A year ago there were still 257 deals available with no deposit required, but this has shrunk to just 10 by the beginning of December, and these are ‘highly restrictive’.