A 95 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage will become available on the housing market soon, it has been announced.

Ben Wilkie, editor of What Mortgage, believes that the LTV will not reach limits any higher than this and added that the current difference between the high and low products will shrink significantly.

He remarked that there will be more mortgage offers in the market and this will benefit first-time buyers.

"I think the initial effect will be to encourage more lenders to offer these sorts of products, because they'll think if their profile is going down it is worthwhile going back on to the market," he said.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported that gross mortgage lending fell to an estimated £9.1 billion in January, which is typical of the winter season.

However, the decline was greater than normal this year, which has led to CML to believe that house buyers wanted to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

People looking to move house may wish to consider using self storage facilities.

Written by Emily Sanders