By clicking a retailer link you consent to third-party cookies that track your onward journey. This enables W? to receive an affiliate commission if you make a purchase, which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.
Sam covers personal finance topics, from the best savings rates to the reasons mortgage lenders say no. He enjoys crunching the numbers to help consumers get ahead.
Anna covers personal finance, helping readers make sense of savings, credit cards and insurance. Her insights are informed by experience in the financial services industry.
Which? analysis reveals that Lloyds Bank was the cheapest mortgage lender in February.
Our research used Moneyfacts mortgage data collected throughout February to compare the best deals from 67 lenders across 24 different mortgage scenarios.
A score of 100% represents a market-leading mortgage deal based on our typical borrower scenarios. Lloyds Bank got an overall score of 98%, which means it offered excellent mortgage deals for a range of borrowers. However, because the lender was very narrowly the overall cheapest, other lenders may be more cost-effective for some borrowers.
Read on to find out which other lenders are consistently offered competitive deals and see the top five cheapest providers for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers.
Find the right mortgage using the fee-free service provided by L&C Mortgages
Compare mortgagesIf you click on the link and complete a mortgage with L&C Mortgages, L&C is paid a commission by the lender and will share part of this fee with Which? Ltd helping fund our not-for-profit mission. We do not allow this relationship to affect our editorial independence. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Overall, high street banks dominated the top five.
The cheapest lender, Lloyds, forms part of the UK's largest lender, according to the latest UK Finance data. For the typical borrower, the bank was £132 a year cheaper than the next best lender in our analysis.
Coming in joint fourth place is Nationwide, our only Which? Recommended Provider for mortgages.
Our analysis shows that the mortgage market is currently highly competitive. The difference between the cheapest lender, Lloyds, and the joint-fourth lenders was a little over £260 per year, or just £22 a month.
Note: the links take you to our lender review pages, where you can find their latest rates for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers.
| 74% | 98% | |
| 73% | 97% | |
| 73% | 97% | |
| 72% | 96% | |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 96% |
Table notes: Overall score based on Which? analysis of Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime.
Our research allows us to look more closely at the cheapest lenders for different types of borrowers, including first-time buyers.
First-time buyers are the riskiest borrowers for lenders, as they typically have smaller deposits and usually need to take out larger loans.
Marsden Building Society was the joint cheapest lender (with Lloyds) for first-time buyers in February, according to our analysis. The building society offers a wide range of retirement interest-only mortgages. However, it also offers a very competitive five-year fixed rate for first-time buyers with a 5% deposit.
Yorkshire Building Society also makes the top five. The building society is well known for designing innovative products for first-time buyers: for example, it has a £5,000 deposit mortgage, which can mean putting down as little as a 1% deposit.
Note: the links take you to our lender review pages, where you can find their latest rates for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers.
| 74% | 98% | |
Marsden Building Society | n/a | 98% |
| 72% | 96% | |
| 74% | 96% | |
| 74% | 96% |
Table notes: First-time buyer score based on Which? analysis of Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime. N/A means a lender did not receive enough responses to generate a customer score or it was not included in our research due to having a small market share.
While Lloyds is a good all-rounder, you might also want to look into First Direct and Which? Recommended Provider Nationwide, which scored strongly in the home mover category in February.
These lenders were typically almost £300 per year cheaper than fourth-place Santander and Lloyds.
Note: the links take you to our lender review pages, where you can find their latest rates for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers.
| 73% | 98% | |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 98% |
| 73% | 97% | |
| 74% | 96% | |
| 73% | 96% |
Table notes: Home mover score based on Which? analysis of Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime.
Our analysis highlights the intense competition between lenders to offer the best deals for those remortgaging. In February, four lenders shared the top spot for this borrower type, each scoring 98% in our analysis.
This is good news for borrowers. With several lenders offering strong deals, you can choose one that suits your preferences, whether that is a user-friendly app or a local branch.
The level of competition is reflected in the smaller cost difference between the cheapest and the fifth-cheapest lender. It is just £120 per year.
Note: the links take you to our lender review pages, where you can find their latest rates for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers.
| 73% | 98% | |
| 73% | 98% | |
| 74% | 98% | |
| 73% | 98% | |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 97% |
Table notes: Remortgage score based on Which? analysis of Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime.
Shopping around for a mortgage deal can be overwhelming. Our research can help you narrow your search and find lenders likely to offer competitive deals for your situation.
You can find out how each of the 67 lenders scored overall for competitive mortgage deals, as well as more specifically for first-time-buyers, home movers and remortgage deals, using our table.
A score of 100% represents a market-leading mortgage deal based on our typical borrower scenarios. A one-point difference in score equates to a saving of around £132 per year for the typical borrower.
Note: the links take you to our lender review pages, where you can find their latest rates for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers.
Lloyds Bank (327) | 74% | 98% | 98% | 96% | 98% |
Marsden Building Society | n/a | 98% | 98% | n/a | n/a |
First Direct (81) | 73% | 97% | 95% | 98% | 98% |
HSBC (454) | 73% | 97% | 95% | 97% | 98% |
Halifax (744) | 72% | 96% | 96% | 95% | 96% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER Nationwide Building Society (642) | 80% | 96% | 94% | 98% | 97% |
Furness Building Society | n/a | 95% | 95% | n/a | n/a |
Virgin Money (68) | 74% | 95% | 96% | 94% | n/a |
Yorkshire Building Society (51) | 74% | 95% | 96% | 93% | 95% |
Barclays Mortgage (880) | 75% | 94% | 94% | 94% | 93% |
NatWest (529) | 73% | 94% | 93% | 93% | 96% |
Royal Bank of Scotland (87) | 68% | 94% | 93% | 92% | 95% |
Santander (429) | 73% | 94% | 89% | 96% | 98% |
TSB (94) | 74% | 93% | 93% | 92% | 94% |
Cumberland Building Society | n/a | 92% | 89% | 91% | 94% |
Scottish Building Society | n/a | 92% | 93% | 89% | 92% |
The Co-operative Bank for Intermediaries | n/a | 92% | 94% | 89% | 94% |
Skipton Building Society (53) | 80% | 91% | 93% | 89% | 92% |
Bank of Ireland UK for Intermediaries | n/a | 89% | 93% | 86% | 88% |
Leeds Building Society (69) | 68% | 89% | 92% | 88% | 87% |
West Brom Building Society | n/a | 88% | 95% | 83% | 85% |
Accord Mortgages (86) | 78% | 86% | 86% | 87% | n/a |
Leek Building Society | n/a | 86% | 94% | 78% | n/a |
Newcastle Building Society | n/a | 84% | 84% | n/a | n/a |
Newbury Building Society | n/a | 82% | 85% | 79% | n/a |
Principality Building Society (44) | 80% | 82% | 76% | 88% | n/a |
Penrith Building Society | n/a | 81% | 81% | n/a | n/a |
Darlington Building Society | n/a | 80% | 80% | n/a | n/a |
Perenna | n/a | 79% | 82% | 76% | 76% |
Suffolk Building Society | n/a | 79% | 79% | n/a | n/a |
Nottingham Building Society | n/a | 77% | 77% | 75% | 78% |
Bath Building Society | n/a | 76% | 76% | n/a | n/a |
Cambridge Building Society | n/a | 75% | 75% | n/a | n/a |
Teachers Building Society | n/a | 75% | 75% | n/a | n/a |
Atom Bank (48) | 72% | 74% | 83% | 69% | 70% |
Family Building Society | n/a | 74% | 77% | 71% | 74% |
April Mortgages | n/a | 72% | 76% | 71% | 68% |
Chorley Building Society | n/a | 72% | 72% | n/a | n/a |
Hanley Economic Building Society | n/a | 72% | 72% | n/a | n/a |
Saffron Building Society | n/a | 70% | 72% | 67% | 70% |
Vernon Building Society | n/a | 70% | 76% | 66% | 68% |
Dudley Building Society | n/a | 69% | 72% | 66% | 69% |
Tipton & Coseley Building Society | n/a | 69% | 75% | 67% | 66% |
Harpenden Building Society | n/a | 67% | 65% | 68% | n/a |
Loughborough Building Society | n/a | 67% | 66% | n/a | n/a |
Kensington | n/a | 66% | 64% | 68% | n/a |
Mansfield Building Society | n/a | 65% | 65% | n/a | n/a |
Gen H | n/a | 64% | 64% | 63% | 64% |
Precise | n/a | 64% | 61% | 67% | n/a |
Aldermore | n/a | 63% | 62% | 64% | n/a |
Melton Building Society | n/a | 63% | 80% | 46% | n/a |
LendInvest Mortgages | n/a | 61% | 56% | 67% | n/a |
The Mortgage Lender | n/a | 61% | 58% | 62% | n/a |
United Trust Bank | n/a | 61% | 56% | 66% | n/a |
LiveMore Capital | n/a | 60% | n/a | 58% | 61% |
Pepper Money | n/a | 60% | 56% | 65% | n/a |
Hinckley & Rugby Building Society | n/a | 59% | 59% | n/a | n/a |
Hodge | n/a | 59% | 55% | 58% | 61% |
Buckinghamshire Building Society | n/a | 57% | 64% | 52% | 55% |
Gatehouse Bank | n/a | 55% | 50% | n/a | 60% |
Metro Bank | n/a | 54% | 60% | 46% | n/a |
Foundation | n/a | 53% | 50% | 55% | n/a |
West One | n/a | 50% | 44% | 55% | n/a |
Bluestone Mortgages | n/a | 49% | 44% | 53% | n/a |
Together | n/a | 29% | n/a | 29% | n/a |
Table notes: Overall score, first-time buyer score, home mover score and remortgage score based on Which? analysis of Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime. N/A means a lender did not receive enough responses to generate a customer score or it was not included in our research due to having a small market share.
In our analysis, we use Moneyfacts mortgage data collected weekly on each Monday of the month.
To determine the cheapest lender of the month, we combine results across all three borrower types: first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers. A lender can only be named overall cheapest if it offers at least one of the most popular mortgage products across all three borrowers.
We've used market data to identify the most popular mortgage types and include them in our research. Lenders are not penalised for not offering a particular type of mortgage.
To score providers, we create a typical borrowing scenario using market data, including loan amounts and term lengths. We factor in the interest rate and any initial fees to calculate the monthly cost. Each lender’s best deal is then compared with the cheapest product available for that scenario.
