Most people don’t think too much about what goes on behind the scenes when they get a mortgage.
You send us your documents, we come back with a recommendation, and a few weeks later you have a deal secured.
What happens in between is a different story and this month has been one of the most unusual we’ve seen in a while.
A Market That Moved Almost Daily
March 2026 has been a month unlike any other in recent memory. In the space of just a few weeks, most mortgage lenders have repriced their products.
Several of them did so more than once and we even heard of one lender increasing their rates twice in a single day!
On some days, a deal that was available in the morning had been pulled from the market by the afternoon.
Rates that were sitting comfortably below 4% at the start of the month have disappeared entirely.
The average two-year fixed rate has risen from around 4.84% at the start of March to over 5.25% at the time of writing.
The driving force behind all of this wasn’t anything that happened here in the UK.
It was events in the Middle East, which pushed up global energy prices, raised fears about inflation, and caused the wholesale rates that lenders use to price mortgages known as swap rate, to jump sharply and quickly.
What That Looks Like From Our Side of the Desk
When markets move like this, our job changes.
It’s not just about finding the best rate anymore it becomes about speed, timing, and making sure the right deal is secured before it’s gone.
We’ve been keeping a much closer eye on lender pricing desks than usual.
We’ve been calling clients sooner than we otherwise would and we’ve been making sure that anyone with a mortgage deal ending in the next six months has had the chance to lock something in because in a market like this, waiting can be costly.
It’s one of those periods that reminds you why using a broker matters.
When you’re watching multiple lenders at once and the market is moving in real time, having someone who understands what’s happening and why, can make a significant difference to the rate you end up on.
What Should You Do?
If your current mortgage deal is ending within the next six months, please don’t wait.
Most lenders will allow you to secure a rate now, even if your deal doesn’t end until later in the year.
If rates improve before you complete, it’s often possible to switch to a better deal before your new mortgage starts so locking in early gives you protection without taking away your flexibility.
If you’re not sure when your current deal ends, or you’d simply like to know where things stand, contact us and we’ll take a look.
As a mortgage is secured against your home or property, it could be repossessed if you do not keep up mortgage repayments.