Average Mortgage Interest Rates

The average mortgage interest rate in early 2026 in the UK is around 4.03% for variable loans and 3.91% for fixed rate loans (2 year loans @ 75% LTV).

Mortgage rates vary by many factors, such as the duration of the loan or fixed period, the loan to value ratio (LTV), if the rate is fixed or variable, whether the loan is for a property that will be rented out or lived in by the owner, and more.

Much to the relief of homeowners, mortgage rates have been inching downwards for the past two years, after peaking in the 6-7% range in 2023. The chart below shows rates for 2-year fixed (green) and variable (purple) rate mortgages, across three different LTV ratios, illustrating how they've changed in the past five years. Interestingly, the fixed rates have shown more variability than the variable rates at times.

Also, notice how the rates had largely converged across LTV ratios for variable rate mortgages (in purple), but are now widening. This means that banks are once again charging less for loans with lower LTV ratios, because a smaller LTV is less risky for the lender. In early 2026, this LTV rate gap is around 1.3%.

This LTV rate gap is smaller for fixed-rate mortgages in early 2026 (e.g. a 95% LTV fixed rate is around 0.9% higher than for a 75% LTV).

How much higher are mortgage rates now?

Compared to five years ago, mortgage rates are roughly 1.2X - 2.2X higher.

As you can see in the chart, 75% LTV mortgages have seen even higher rates increases than more risky, 95% LTV loans. The cause? Probably because five years ago, when the world was a riskier place, the higher-risk, 95% LTV mortgages were going for a premium (as in, even higher) rate compared to normal times.

Average Mortgage Loan Size

In February 2026, the most recent data (from Dec 2025) shows that the average mortgage loan size is £163,098, according to NimbleFins analysis of data from the Bank of England. This figure is just about the lowest it's been since June 2020.

The highest average mortgage values were seen in March 2025, when typical lending per home reached £214,767.

How do we calculate these figures? For example, during the last quarter of 2025 (Oct 2025 - Dec 2025), £77,767,000,000 was lent to individuals over 476,812 properties - which we calculate to be an average of £163,098 per loan.

Methodology & Data

NimbleFins analysed data from the Bank of England to determine average mortgage loan sizes as well as compare mortgage interest rates.

The following Bank of England data sets were used for the interest rate figures:

To determine the average mortgage size, we used two metrics to approximate the average loan:

• amount of total sterling secured gross lending to individuals

• total sterling number of transactions with individuals secured on residential property

Note, the resulting figures will not be exact, since the total lending figure does not exclusively reflect mortgages, however the vast bulk of secured lending will be for homes.