Mortgage product choice has dropped sharply and average deal lifespans have fallen to just eight days, leaving landlords with far less time to secure finance before rates move again.
Product choice drops below 7,000
Moneyfacts said the number of available mortgage products fell by 1,283 month-on-month to 6,201 in April. That pushed total choice below 7,000 for the first time since November 2025 and marked a two-year low.
For landlords, the headline number matters for two reasons. First, it points to a market where lenders are repricing fast and pulling deals with little warning. Second, it narrows the room to shop around when refinancing, especially for borrowers with more complex cases or portfolio structures.
The average shelf-life of a mortgage deal dropped from 14 days to eight in March, the shortest period Moneyfacts has recorded since it began tracking the measure in 2011. Average two-year fixed rates rose by one percentage point over the month, while five-year fixes rose by 0.79 percentage points.
Buy-to-let borrowers face a smaller margin for error
Landlords do not usually borrow on the same terms as owner-occupiers, but wider mortgage volatility still feeds directly into the buy-to-let market. That was already visible in Landlord Knowledge’s recent report on landlords shifting towards two-year fixes, which showed borrowers trying to stay flexible as pricing turned less predictable.
Combined with this site’s coverage of lenders cutting rates and widening criteria, the latest Moneyfacts figures suggest that brief spell of improving choice has gone into reverse. The risk for landlords is not only paying more, but missing the window entirely while paperwork, valuations or legal work drags on.
Moneyfacts said the upheaval was driven by lenders pulling products and repricing through March as interest-rate expectations changed. That matters for buy-to-let investors because short-lived offers tend to favour borrowers who already have brokers lined up, documents ready and a clear exit plan.
Landlords looking to refinance in the next few months may also need to rethink assumptions formed at the start of the year. January and February looked calmer. April looks different.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s March report on buy-to-let rates hitting a two-year high as products were pulled. The latest figures show that product churn has not eased and that financing conditions remain fragile even when lenders are still active in the market.
There is a practical warning here as well. Landlords with remortgages due this spring may find the cheapest headline rates are less useful if they disappear before a case reaches offer stage. In that kind of market, speed and lender fit matter more than chasing the very lowest number.
What this means for landlords
- If you’re remortgaging before summer: get paperwork lined up early because products are not sitting on the shelf for long.
- Watch for: lenders repricing after swap-rate moves, which can close off options between decision in principle and full application.
- Bottom line: the market is still open, but landlords have less time to act and less room to recover from delays.
Editor’s view
Short-lived mortgage deals are a problem even when rates themselves are not at crisis levels. For landlords, the real pressure is operational – you now have to be ready to move before the offer you want disappears.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 13 April 2026
Sources: Moneyfacts mortgage news
Related reading: Landlords shift to two-year fixes as mortgage rates rise
