Remortgages and first-time buyer searches drive momentum as availability hits new high
The UK mortgage market continued its upward trajectory in May, with both activity and product availability seeing gains, according to new data from technology provider Twenty7tec.
The company reported that the total number of mortgage searches rose 12.3% from April to May 2025, while the number of products available on its platform surpassed 25,000 for the first time.
Remortgage activity saw a notable increase, climbing 7.6% on the month and up 23.1% compared to May 2024. Searches from first-time buyers also rose, increasing 3.5% over the previous month and 13.9% year-on-year. First-time buyers represented 37.3% of all residential searches in May, up from 33.9% in the same month last year. Among these, nearly half (48.2%) were for products at over 90% loan-to-value (LTV), with 78% of searches above 80% LTV.
Twenty7tec noted a single-day record of 30,120 ESIS documents produced by advisers on May 13 —almost twice the average daily figure so far this year.
Borrowers showed increased interest in shorter-term fixed rate mortgages. Products fixed for two years or less accounted for 47.6% of all fixed rate searches in May, up from 34.3% in April. This compares with 31.9% for three- to five-year fixes and 21.4% for five- to 10-year terms.
In contrast, activity in the buy-to-let (BTL) sector declined. BTL purchase mortgage searches fell 11.7% year-on-year, now representing just 14.8% of total market searches. This marks one of the lowest monthly shares on record, down from a 23.9% peak in 2018. BTL remortgage searches, however, saw a smaller increase of 5.6% compared to the previous year.
Data from Rightmove showed that May was the busiest month for agreed property sales since 2021, and the most active month overall since March 2022. The increase in activity coincides with easing borrowing costs, offering a more positive outlook for the housing sector.
“May felt like a month where confidence picked up noticeably,” said Nathan Reilly (pictured), commercial director at Twenty7tec. “Search volumes were up, remortgaging remained strong, and first-time buyer demand continued to grow. The product landscape is the most competitive it’s ever been, and that’s good news for advisers and their clients.”
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