The mortgage market changed significantly during 2024 as inflation eased, mortgage lenders repeatedly adjusted fixed rates and lending criteria, and interest-rate expectations shifted throughout the year.
Competition increased at various points across residential and buy-to-let lending. For some borrowers, changes to affordability calculations, loan-to-value limits and lender criteria were just as important as movements in headline mortgage rates.
This page provides a month-by-month summary of the main UK mortgage and housing-market developments during 2024.
For current Bank Rate, inflation, mortgage-rate and house-price information, see our Mortgage & Housing Market Update.
Mortgage Lender Rates and Criteria During 2024
Mortgage lenders made frequent changes to fixed mortgage rates throughout 2024 as wholesale funding costs and expectations for future interest rates moved.
The year began with stronger lender competition and a number of fixed-rate reductions. However, mortgage pricing did not move consistently downwards. Rates increased again during parts of the spring as swap rates rose, before becoming more competitive later in the year.
Competition was also about more than pricing. During 2024, lenders continued to make changes to areas including:
- Affordability assessments, which affected the amount borrowers could potentially raise.
- Loan-to-income limits, with lenders taking different approaches depending on income, deposit and individual circumstances.
- Higher loan-to-value lending, including continued availability of 90% and 95% LTV products.
- First-time buyer lending, with lenders competing for customers with smaller deposits.
- Self-employed lending, where approaches to salary, dividends, retained profit and recent trading performance varied considerably.
- Buy-to-let lending, including options for limited companies, portfolio landlords and specialist property types.
- Complex income, including overtime, bonuses, commission and income from more than one job.
- Property criteria, where lender appetite continued to differ for flats, new-build homes and more unusual properties.
As a result, the lender offering the lowest advertised rate was not necessarily the lender able to offer the most suitable mortgage. Affordability calculations and criteria could materially affect both the amount available to borrow and the products a customer could access.
January 2024
The mortgage market started 2024 with Bank Rate at 5.25%, where it had remained since August 2023.
Mortgage lenders began the year competing strongly for new business, with reductions to selected two-year and five-year fixed rates as swap rates fell and expectations increased that interest rates could eventually be reduced.
CPI inflation remained at 4.0% in January.
The housing market also showed signs of improvement. Nationwide reported that annual UK house-price growth had improved to -0.2%, compared with a larger annual fall at the end of 2023.
For borrowers, the start of the year demonstrated that fixed mortgage rates could move before Bank Rate itself changed.
February 2024
The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 5.25% in February.
CPI inflation fell to 3.4%, supporting expectations that price pressures were continuing to ease.
Mortgage lenders continued to adjust fixed rates, although pricing became more volatile as swap rates responded to changing expectations for future interest-rate cuts.
Competition remained strong across residential mortgages, particularly for borrowers with larger deposits or higher levels of equity, while first-time buyers continued to have access to higher loan-to-value products.
March 2024
Bank Rate was again held at 5.25% in March.
Inflation fell further to 3.2%.
Despite the improving inflation picture, mortgage lenders did not continue reducing rates across the board. Changes in wholesale funding costs resulted in some lenders increasing selected fixed products after the reductions seen earlier in the year.
The housing market remained relatively stable, with improving buyer confidence compared with the more difficult conditions experienced during parts of 2023.
Lenders also continued to compete through affordability and criteria as well as headline pricing.
April 2024
There was no scheduled Bank Rate decision during April, leaving the rate at 5.25%.
CPI inflation fell significantly to 2.3%, moving closer to the Bank of England’s 2% target.
Mortgage pricing remained mixed. Although lower inflation supported expectations for eventual interest-rate cuts, fixed rates were affected by changing swap rates and lenders made both upward and downward adjustments.
This reinforced an important feature of the mortgage market during 2024: fixed rates could change even when Bank Rate itself remained unchanged.
May 2024
The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 5.25% in May.
Inflation fell to 2.0%, reaching the Bank of England’s target.
Mortgage borrowers nevertheless continued to see changes in fixed pricing because lenders were considering the wider inflation outlook and the expected timing of future rate reductions.
Competition remained strong across parts of the residential market, while lenders continued to offer a range of options for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgage customers.
Affordability remained an important consideration, particularly for customers refinancing from older mortgage rates.
June 2024
The Monetary Policy Committee again held Bank Rate at 5.25% in June.
CPI inflation remained at 2.0%.
Mortgage rates continued to move independently of Bank Rate at times as lenders responded to changing wholesale funding costs.
Some lenders improved selected fixed products during the month, while competition continued across higher loan-to-value lending and specialist areas of the market.
June also marked the withdrawal of Multiple Dwellings Relief for Stamp Duty Land Tax, affecting some property transactions involving multiple dwellings.
July 2024
Bank Rate remained at 5.25% throughout July.
CPI inflation increased slightly to 2.2%, but remained significantly below the levels seen during the previous two years.
Expectations for an August Bank Rate reduction became stronger, and mortgage lenders continued competing across residential and buy-to-let ranges.
Fixed-rate pricing generally became more attractive in parts of the market, although the products available to individual borrowers continued to depend heavily on loan-to-value, affordability and lender criteria.
The housing market also continued to show signs of greater stability.
August 2024
On 1 August 2024, the Bank of England reduced Bank Rate from 5.25% to 5.00%.
It was the first Bank Rate reduction since 2020 and marked an important change in the interest-rate cycle.
CPI inflation remained at 2.2%.
Mortgage lenders continued reducing selected fixed rates during parts of the month as competition increased.
Borrowers on tracker mortgages linked directly to Bank Rate could generally benefit from the reduction, subject to their mortgage terms. Fixed mortgage pricing, however, continued to depend more heavily on swap rates and expectations about future interest rates.
September 2024
The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 5.00% in September.
CPI inflation fell to 1.7%, moving below the Bank of England’s 2% target.
Lower inflation and expectations for further rate reductions helped support competition between mortgage lenders.
Selected residential mortgage rates became more competitive, while lenders also continued to make changes to affordability and criteria.
House prices were generally recovering, although performance continued to differ significantly between regions and property types.
October 2024
Bank Rate remained at 5.00% during October.
CPI inflation increased to 2.3%, showing that the movement in inflation was unlikely to be entirely one-directional.
Mortgage lenders continued repricing as financial markets reassessed the outlook for future interest rates.
The Autumn Budget also introduced an important change for property investors. From 31 October 2024, the higher-rate Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge for purchases of additional residential properties increased from 3% to 5%.
This increased acquisition costs for many landlords and purchasers of second homes.
November 2024
On 7 November 2024, the Bank of England reduced Bank Rate from 5.00% to 4.75%.
This was the second reduction of the year.
CPI inflation increased to 2.6%, reinforcing expectations that future reductions in interest rates could remain gradual.
Mortgage lenders continued to compete across residential and buy-to-let products, although fixed-rate changes varied between lenders as wholesale funding costs moved.
The housing market continued to strengthen, with annual house-price growth improving compared with earlier in the year.
December 2024
The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 4.75% at its final meeting of the year.
CPI inflation eased slightly to 2.5%.
Mortgage lenders continued making pricing changes as the market looked ahead to the possibility of further interest-rate reductions in 2025.
Nationwide reported annual UK house-price growth of 4.7% in December, a significant improvement from the position at the beginning of 2024.
The year therefore ended with stronger house-price growth, lower Bank Rate and a more competitive mortgage market than had been seen at the start of the year.
2024 in Summary
The mortgage market became more competitive during 2024, although fixed mortgage rates moved both upwards and downwards as lenders responded to changing swap rates, funding costs and expectations for future interest rates.
Bank Rate remained at 5.25% for much of the year before falling to 5.00% in August and 4.75% in November. Inflation also fell substantially compared with the levels seen during the previous two years.
Competition extended beyond headline mortgage rates. Lenders continued to adjust affordability calculations, higher loan-to-value lending and criteria for first-time buyers, self-employed applicants, landlords and borrowers with more complex circumstances.
The housing market strengthened as the year progressed, with annual house-price growth improving by December. Overall, 2024 showed why mortgage rates, lender affordability and lending criteria all needed to be considered together rather than looking only at the lowest advertised rate.
For more detailed historical data, see our Bank of England Base Rate History, Inflation History and House Price History pages.
