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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.
Lloyds Bank was the cheapest mortgage lender for the second month in a row, according to the latest Which? analysis.
Since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, the mortgage market has experienced a significant shift. In February, many of the best rates were below 4%, but by the last week of March, there were no deals offering below 4%. For some borrowers, the best rates had gone above 5%.
Our research uses Moneyfacts mortgage data collected throughout March to compare the best deals across 24 different mortgage scenarios. A score of 100% represents a market-leading mortgage deal based on our typical borrower scenarios.
Lloyds Bank received an overall score of 96%, indicating it offered excellent mortgage deals for a range of borrowers. However, other lenders may be more cost-effective depending on your situation.
Read on to find out which other lenders consistently offered competitive deals and see the top five cheapest providers for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers.
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Lloyds was the cheapest lender overall in March. For the typical borrower, the bank was £149 a year cheaper than the next best lender, Nationwide.
Nationwide wasn't too far behind, though, achieving a score of 96%. Nationwide is also the only Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) for mortgages in 2026.
Our analysis reveals that some lenders have slipped down the rankings amid rising rates. For example, in February HSBC had the joint-second-highest overall score of 97%. This month its score has fallen to 91%. This means that in March, for a typical borrower, it was £745 more expensive per year than Lloyds.
That said, the mortgage market is still highly competitive. Four different lenders achieved the second-best repayment score of 95%.
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% | 96% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 95% |
NatWest (529) | 73% | 95% |
| 68% | 95% | |
Santander (429) | 73% | 95% |
Table notes: Overall score based on Which? analysis of March 2026 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.
Lloyds Bank, the overall cheapest lender, was also the cheapest for first-time buyers.
For a typical first-time buyer, Lloyds was almost £150 cheaper per year than the next-best lender Barclays.
First-time buyers are the riskiest borrowers for lenders, as they typically have smaller deposits and usually need to take out larger loans. So you sometimes see a variety of smaller lenders in the table. In March, for example, Bank of Ireland was competitive for this group of borrowers.
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% | 96% |
Barclays Mortgage (880) | 75% | 95% |
NatWest (529) | 73% | 94% |
| 68% | 94% | |
Bank of Ireland UK (54) | 67% | 94% |
Table notes: First-time buyer score based on Which? analysis of March 2026 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.
Lloyds and Nationwide stood out in the home mover category, with an impressive 97% score.
For the typical home mover, they were over £300 per year cheaper than First Direct, NatWest and Santander.
We continue to find that the largest lenders offer the typical home mover the cheapest deals.
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% | 97% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 97% |
First Direct (81) | 73% | 95% |
NatWest (529) | 73% | 95% |
Santander (429) | 73% | 95% |
Table notes: Home mover score based on Which? analysis of March 2026 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.
We found the most intense competition between lenders was for remortgaging deals. In March, four lenders shared the top spot for this borrower type, each scoring 96% in our analysis.
This is good news for borrowers, as even during market turmoil multiple lenders offer close to the best deals. With several lenders offering strong deals, you can choose one that suits your preferences.
The level of competition is also reflected in the smaller cost (£137 per year) difference between the cheapest and the fifth-cheapest lender.
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% | 96% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 96% |
NatWest (529) | 73% | 96% |
| 68% | 96% | |
Santander (429) | 73% | 95% |
Table notes: Remortgage score based on Which? analysis of March 2026 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.
With so many lenders to choose from, shopping around for a mortgage deal can be overwhelming. Our research can help you narrow your search and find providers likely to offer competitive deals for your situation.
You can find out how each of the 45 lenders scored overall for competitive mortgage deals, as well as more specifically for first-time-buyer, home mover 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 the overall score equates to a saving of around £149 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% | 96% | 96% | 97% | 96% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 95% | 93% | 97% | 96% |
NatWest (529) | 73% | 95% | 94% | 95% | 96% |
Santander (429) | 73% | 95% | 93% | 95% | 95% |
| 68% | 95% | 94% | 94% | 96% | |
First Direct (81) | 73% | 94% | 93% | 95% | 94% |
Barclays Mortgage (880) | 75% | 94% | 95% | 94% | 93% |
Halifax (744) | 72% | 94% | 93% | 94% | 93% |
Virgin Money (68) | 74% | 94% | 93% | 94% | n/a |
TSB (94) | 74% | 92% | 91% | 93% | 92% |
| 74% | 92% | 90% | 93% | 93% | |
HSBC (454) | 73% | 91% | 90% | 92% | 91% |
Bank of Ireland UK (54) | 67% | 90% | 94% | 88% | 88% |
Newbury Building Society | n/a | 90% | 92% | n/a | |
| 80% | 90% | 91% | 89% | 88% | |
West Brom Building Society | n/a | 88% | 92% | n/a | |
Leek Building Society | n/a | 87% | 92% | 82% | n/a |
Accord Mortgages (86) | 78% | 86% | 83% | 89% | n/a |
| 68% | 86% | 90% | 85% | 83% | |
Beverley Building Society | n/a | 86% | 86% | n/a | n/a |
Newcastle Building Society | n/a | 85% | 85% | n/a | n/a |
Teachers Building Society | n/a | 83% | 83% | n/a | n/a |
| 80% | 81% | 76% | 87% | n/a | |
Cambridge Building Society | n/a | 79% | 79% | n/a | n/a |
Harpenden Building Society | n/a | 76% | n/a | 77% | n/a |
April Mortgages | n/a | 75% | 79% | 75% | 71% |
Nottingham Building Society | n/a | 74% | 77% | 73% | 71% |
Vernon Building Society | n/a | 72% | 77% | 69% | 70% |
Loughborough Building Society | n/a | 72% | 72% | n/a | n/a |
Melton Building Society | n/a | 70% | 88% | 53% | n/a |
Kensington | n/a | 69% | 65% | 72% | n/a |
United Trust Bank | n/a | 67% | 61% | 73% | n/a |
Gen H | n/a | 66% | 63% | 67% | 67% |
The Mortgage Lender | n/a | 65% | 63% | 67% | n/a |
LiveMore Capital | n/a | 64% | n/a | 64% | 65% |
Pepper Money | n/a | 63% | 57% | 69% | n/a |
Aldermore | n/a | 63% | 60% | 65% | n/a |
LendInvest Mortgages | n/a | 62% | 56% | 69% | n/a |
Hodge | n/a | 62% | 59% | 62% | 64% |
Precise | n/a | 62% | 60% | n/a | n/a |
Metro Bank | n/a | 59% | 66% | 53% | n/a |
Gatehouse Bank | n/a | 58% | 54% | n/a | n/a |
West One | n/a | 53% | 47% | 59% | n/a |
Bluestone Mortgages | n/a | 53% | 48% | 58% | n/a |
Together | n/a | 32% | n/a | 32% | n/a |
Table notes: Overall score, first-time buyer score, home mover score and remortgage score based on Which? analysis of March 2026 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.
