According to the latest research from a price comparison website, there has been a sharp increase in high loan to value products entering the market over the course of the last month.

By the end of November, there were a total of 116 different loan products which offered 90 per cent loan to value ratio, up from 101 in the previous month. There are also now 254 loan products at 85 per cent loan to value, compared with 226 last month.

Michelle Slade, analyst at the website said “Slowly but surely we are finally seeing competition returning to the mortgage market.Lenders have adjusted to the post banking crisis world and are starting to relax their lending criteria.

“In the last month, we have seen lenders increasing the loan to values up to which their existing deals are available, or launching new deals at higher loan to values.

“Many house price indices are now showing a rise, meaning that the risk of higher loan to value loans has lessened.”

She added: “While the best deals remain for those with a 40 per cent deposit, those with smaller deposits are finally seeing rates starting to come down.”