The number of high loan to value mortgage products on the market has risen significantly and interest rates have fallen since the end of 2009, making a good start to the year for home buyers.

According to new market analysis from moneysupermarket.com, mortgages with an 85 per cent LTV saw the most significant rise in availability, with a 22 per cent increase in deals since December last year.

The analysis suggests that lenders are beginning to loosen their grip on mortgage lending, making more products available to borrowers without large deposits or significant amounts of equity in their homes.

There are now 384 products available to home buyers with a 15 per cent deposit, while rates on 80 per cent LTV deals have fallen further than for any other mortgage, by 0.77 per cent since October.

Borrowers with only a 10 per cent deposit now have 165 products to choose from, an 11 per cent increase compared to December last year.

Hannah-Mercedes Skenfield, mortgages channel manager at moneysupermarket.com, said: “Lenders seem to have started 2010 with their doors open and are clearly more open to mortgage lending than they have been for some time.

“The increase in products available at 85 per cent and 90 per cent is particularly encouraging for first time buyers, as scraping together a large deposit is not easy, and was the reason many prospective first-time buyers deserted the market in their droves last year.”

While the best rates are still being reserved for those with larger deposits, Ms Skenfield finds it “encouraging” that rates are dropping across the mortgage market, including high LTV mortgages.

Even the 95 per cent LTV market has improved; while there are still only nine products available, the average rate has fallen by 0.71 per cent since October.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd