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First Direct and HSBC were the cheapest mortgage lenders in May, according to the latest Which? analysis, knocking Lloyds Bank off the top spot for the first time since March.
Our analysis of Moneyfacts data found that rates improved during May. The best deals remain much more expensive than they were in February, but have improved since April.
First Direct and HSBC achieved overall scores of 98% in our analysis of 24 mortgage scenarios, covering first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers. A score of 100% represents a market-leading mortgage deal based on our typical borrower scenarios.
However, other lenders may be more cost-effective, depending on your situation.
Read on to find out which other lenders consistently offered competitive deals and to see the top five cheapest providers for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers.
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First Direct and HSBC were the cheapest lenders overall in May. It is the second month in a row that two lenders have topped the table.
Both providers have improved since April, but HSBC has really shot up the rankings. Five lenders were cheaper than First Direct in April, and 13 were cheaper than HSBC.
For the typical borrower, the providers were £146 a year cheaper than the next best lenders, Nationwide and Lloyds Bank, which both achieved an overall score of 97%. Nationwide is the only Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) for mortgages in 2026.
TSB's score increased the most compared to last month, by nine percentage points, to 96%.
To read our lender reviews, click the links in the table. You'll find the latest mortgage rates for first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers on each lender's review page.
First Direct (81) | 73% | 98% |
HSBC (454) | 73% | 98% |
Lloyds Bank (327) | 74% | 97% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 97% |
Santander (429) | 73% | 96% |
Virgin Money (68) | 74% | 96% |
TSB (94) | 74% | 96% |
Table notes: Overall score based on Which? analysis of May 2026 Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider, a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime.
Our research enables us to look more closely at the cheapest lenders for different types of borrowers, including first-time buyers.
First-time buyers are generally considered riskier borrowers because they often have smaller deposits and larger loans, so you sometimes see a variety of smaller lenders in the table. For example, Marsden Building Society was the cheapest for first-time buyers. For a typical first-time buyer, Marsden Building Society was almost £150 cheaper per year than the next best lender.
However, Marsden Building Society does not qualify as the cheapest mortgage lender of the month because it doesn't offer deals that fit our home mover or remortgage categories.
Beverley Building Society is another smaller provider that features among the cheapest lenders for first-time buyers. However, it's deals are only available to applicants within a 50 mile radius of Beverley.
Lloyds Bank was the cheapest of the big banks.
Marsden Building Society | n/a | 99% |
Lloyds Bank (327) | 74% | 98% |
First Direct (81) | 73% | 97% |
Beverley Building Society | n/a | 96% |
HSBC (454) | 73% | 96% |
Table notes: First-time buyer score based on Which? analysis of May 2026 Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider, a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime.
HSBC was a cut above the rest in the home mover category, with an impressive 99% score.
For the typical home mover, it was £138 per year cheaper than Lloyds Bank.
Our research continues to show that the largest lenders often offer the cheapest deals for typical home movers.
HSBC (454) | 73% | 99% |
Lloyds Bank (327) | 74% | 98% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 98% |
First Direct (81) | 73% | 98% |
Halifax (744) | 72% | 96% |
Virgin Money (68) | 74% | 96% |
Table notes: Home mover score based on Which? analysis of May 2026 Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider, a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime.
We found the most intense competition between lenders was for remortgaging deals.
First Direct and HSBC topped the table with very impressive scores of 99%, but two other lenders weren't far behind, achieving 98% in our analysis.
This is good news for borrowers because, even during market turmoil, multiple lenders offer close to the best deals: 13 providers achieved a score of at least 94%. With several lenders offering strong deals, you can choose one that suits your preferences.
HSBC (454) | 73% | 99% |
First Direct (81) | 73% | 99% |
Bank of Ireland UK (54) | 67% | 98% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 98% |
Santander (429) | 73% | 97% |
TSB (94) | 74% | 97% |
Table notes: Remortgage score based on Which? analysis of May 2026 Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider, a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime.
With so many lenders to choose from, shopping around for a mortgage deal can be overwhelming. Our research can help you narrow your search and find providers likely to offer competitive deals for your situation.
You can find out how each of the 50 lenders scored overall for competitive mortgage deals – as well as more specifically for first-time-buyer, home mover and remortgage deals – using our table.
A score of 100% represents a market-leading mortgage deal based on our typical borrower scenarios. A one-point difference in the overall score equates to a saving of around £150 per year for the typical borrower.
Marsden Building Society | n/a | 99% | 99% | n/a | n/a |
First Direct (81) | 73% | 98% | 97% | 98% | 99% |
HSBC (454) | 73% | 98% | 96% | 99% | 99% |
Lloyds Bank (327) | 74% | 97% | 98% | 98% | 95% |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 80% | 97% | 95% | 98% | 98% |
Beverley Building Society | n/a | 97% | 96% | n/a | n/a |
Santander (429) | 73% | 96% | 95% | 95% | 97% |
Virgin Money (68) | 74% | 96% | 95% | 96% | n/a |
TSB (94) | 74% | 96% | 94% | 95% | 97% |
Bank of Ireland UK (54) | 67% | 95% | 94% | 94% | 98% |
Halifax (744) | 72% | 94% | 94% | 96% | 93% |
NatWest (529) | 73% | 94% | 93% | 93% | 94% |
| 68% | 93% | 93% | 92% | 94% | |
Barclays Mortgage (880) | 75% | 92% | 91% | 92% | 94% |
| 74% | 92% | 88% | 92% | 95% | |
Teachers Building Society | n/a | 91% | 91% | n/a | |
Scottish Building Society | n/a | 91% | 91% | 87% | 94% |
West Brom Building Society | n/a | 90% | 90% | n/a | n/a |
| 80% | 89% | 91% | 87% | 90% | |
Furness Building Society | n/a | 89% | 88% | n/a | n/a |
| 68% | 88% | 95% | 85% | 82% | |
Newbury Building Society | n/a | 85% | n/a | 85% | n/a |
Accord Mortgages (86) | 78% | 84% | 83% | 86% | n/a |
Leek Building Society | n/a | 83% | 86% | 84% | n/a |
Loughborough Building Society | n/a | 82% | 82% | n/a | n/a |
Penrith Building Society | n/a | 81% | 81% | n/a | n/a |
Perenna | n/a | 81% | 82% | 80% | 80% |
| 80% | 80% | 75% | 84% | n/a | |
Cambridge Building Society | n/a | 79% | 79% | n/a | n/a |
Atom Bank (48) | 72% | 79% | 85% | 76% | 78% |
Bath Building Society | n/a | 79% | 79% | n/a | n/a |
Nottingham Building Society | n/a | 78% | 76% | 77% | 82% |
Darlington Building Society | n/a | 78% | 78% | n/a | n/a |
Tipton & Coseley Building Society | n/a | 77% | 78% | n/a | n/a |
April Mortgages | n/a | 76% | 79% | 76% | 73% |
Saffron Building Society | n/a | 76% | 76% | n/a | n/a |
Family Building Society | n/a | 75% | 79% | 70% | 76% |
Vernon Building Society | n/a | 75% | 78% | 71% | 75% |
Chorley Building Society | n/a | 75% | 75% | n/a | n/a |
Melton Building Society | n/a | 74% | 86% | 63% | n/a |
Harpenden Building Society | n/a | 72% | 72% | 73% | n/a |
Mansfield Building Society | n/a | 72% | 72% | n/a | n/a |
Gen H | n/a | 71% | 61% | 73% | 78% |
Kensington | n/a | 69% | 65% | 72% | n/a |
United Trust Bank | n/a | 68% | 56% | 81% | n/a |
Precise | n/a | 67% | 62% | 71% | n/a |
Aldermore | n/a | 66% | 63% | 69% | n/a |
Buckinghamshire Building Society | n/a | 65% | 74% | 59% | 63% |
The Mortgage Lender | n/a | 65% | 63% | 67% | n/a |
LendInvest Mortgages | n/a | 64% | 58% | 70% | n/a |
LiveMore Capital | n/a | 64% | n/a | 62% | 64% |
Pepper Money | n/a | 64% | 58% | 70% | n/a |
Hodge | n/a | 61% | 58% | 61% | 65% |
Metro Bank | n/a | 60% | 66% | 53% | n/a |
Bluestone Mortgages | n/a | 57% | 52% | 61% | n/a |
Foundation | n/a | 56% | 53% | 58% | n/a |
West One | n/a | 55% | 49% | 61% | n/a |
Gatehouse Bank | n/a | 55% | 55% | n/a | n/a |
Together | n/a | 32% | n/a | 32% | n/a |
Table notes: Overall score, first-time buyer score, home mover score and remortgage score based on Which? analysis of May 2026 Moneyfacts mortgage data. Customer scores are based on a survey of 5,016 members of the public in August-September 2025 and combine overall satisfaction with likelihood to recommend the provider. Sample size in brackets. The average customer score is 74%. To become a Which? Recommended Provider, a lender must get a top customer score, consistently offer competitive deals and be fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority banking standards regime. N/A means a lender did not receive enough responses to generate a customer score or it was not included in our research due to having a small market share.
In our analysis, we use Moneyfacts mortgage data collected weekly on each Monday of the month.
To determine the cheapest lender of the month, we combine results across all three borrower types: first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers. A lender can only be named overall cheapest if it offers at least one of the most popular mortgage products across all three borrowers.
We've used market data to identify the most popular mortgage types and include them in our research. Lenders are not penalised for not offering a particular type of mortgage.
To score providers, we create a typical borrowing scenario using market data, including loan amounts and term lengths. We factor in the interest rate and any initial fees to calculate the monthly cost. Each lender’s best deal is then compared with the cheapest product available for that scenario.
