Average UK mortgage rates crossed 5.5% on 25 March 2026 - the highest since August 2024 - according to analysis from Moneyfacts. That is up from 4.89% on 2 March, a jump of 0.61 percentage points in less than four weeks.

Seven Lenders Move on One Day

The repricing wave covered NatWest, TSB, Santander, Coventry Building Society, Principality Building Society, Suffolk Building Society and Metro Bank - all announcing changes within hours of one another.

NatWest raised selected purchase, remortgage, first-time buyer and buy-to-let (BTL) rates by up to 0.15%, effective 26 March (Mortgage Solutions, 25 March 2026). Its two-year tracker at 60% loan to value (LTV) now prices at 4.41% with no fee, or 4.19% with a £995 fee. TSB raised residential and BTL product transfer and additional borrowing rates by up to 0.2% from 25 March.

Santander goes furthest. From 27 March, all new business residential and BTL fixed rates rise by up to 0.41%, while product transfer rates jump by up to 0.53%. BTL affordability stress rates - the minimum rate lenders use to test whether you can afford the loan - rise by 0.5%. Principality Building Society increased product transfer rates by up to 0.55%, covering residential, shared ownership, BTL and holiday lets from 26 March. It also trimmed a handful of deals: the five-year fix at 95% LTV fell by 0.15%, and a two-year discount BTL deal dropped by 0.05%.

Coventry Building Society is pulling its offset and interest-only offset deals on 26 March before relaunching at higher fixed rates on 28 March. Suffolk Building Society follows the same pattern, withdrawing products on 26 March to reprice and relaunch on 27 March.

What This Does to Your Monthly Cost

Moneyfacts ran the numbers on a £250,000 repayment mortgage over 25 years. The typical annual cost of borrowing has now risen by more than £1,075 compared to 2 March rates (Moneyfacts, 25 March 2026). Divided across 12 months, that works out at roughly £90 more per month on that loan size.

Adam French, head of consumer finance at Moneyfacts, called the 5.5% figure "an unwelcome milestone for borrowers." He attributed the surge to conflict in the Middle East shifting market expectations on inflation, with lenders "scrambling to keep up with rising funding costs." His verdict: "A more volatile world is a more expensive world." He added that anyone looking to buy or remortgage this year "needs to prepare for substantially higher costs than previously expected" (Mortgage Solutions, 25 March 2026).

The best deals still sit below 5.5%. But the gap is closing. Run the numbers on your deal now, not in a month.