What 90% LTV means for a 2-year fix
This page filters the 2-year fixed market down to products a borrower at 90% loan-to-value can actually take — that is, deals whose maximum LTV is 90% or above. On a £250,000 property that means a mortgage of about £225,000, with £25,000 covered by your deposit or existing equity.
At 90% you're paying a visible premium over the lower bands, and a 2-year fix is often the deliberate response to that: commit for as short a period as you sensibly can, then remortgage once your loan-to-value has improved.
Lender criteria are applied more strictly here than at 75%, and product availability is narrower. Check the maximum LTV on the specific product rather than the lender's headline range — flats, new-builds and non-standard construction are frequently capped below 90%.
Getting under 90% LTV before you take a 2-year fix
Whether you qualify at 90% comes down to the lender's own valuation, divided into the amount you want to borrow. Not the price you paid, not a portal's estimate, and not what a neighbour's house sold for. Since a 2-year fix locks that band in for 2 years, it is worth a few minutes' attention before you apply rather than after.
The bands are hard steps, so landing marginally the wrong side of 90% costs you the whole band for the full 2 years — not a proportionate amount. Two things can move you across: a modest overpayment before you apply, and challenging a low valuation with evidence of comparable local sales. Remortgage valuations are frequently automated from property data, and automated figures are sometimes conservative enough to be worth contesting.
Is a 2-year fix at 90% LTV right for you?
This is the classic first-time buyer and early-remortgage position, and the short fix has a specific logic to it. Capital repayments plus any price growth mean many borrowers who start at 90% are comfortably in the 85% band or better by the time a 2-year deal ends — which is the single biggest rate improvement available to them.
The risk is the mirror image: if prices fall, you'll be remortgaging in two years at a similar or worse LTV, and at whatever rates apply then. A 5-year fix at 90% removes that risk at the cost of locking in high-LTV pricing for longer.
Common questions
What does 90% LTV mean on a 2-year fix?
You're borrowing 90% of the property's value, with the other 10% covered by your deposit or the equity you already hold, and that ratio sets the price band your rate is drawn from for the whole 2-year deal. On a £300,000 property it means a mortgage of £270,000.
Can I get a 2-year fixed rate at 90% LTV?
Yes — the table above lists the 2-year fixed products we currently see available at 90% LTV. Availability and pricing depend on the lender's criteria, the property type and your circumstances as well as the 90% figure, and the range on offer at this band is not the same as at the bands above or below it.
Should I take a 2-year or 5-year fix at 90% LTV?
A 2-year fix lets you remortgage into a cheaper LTV band sooner, which at 90% is usually the largest saving available to you. A 5-year fix protects you if property prices fall or rates rise, at the cost of paying high-LTV pricing for longer.
How current are the rates on this page?
We collect product data from the lenders we track from their published information and refresh it regularly, so the 2-year fixed deals listed are those we last saw available to a borrower at 90% LTV. Lenders can withdraw or reprice a deal at any time, sometimes with a few hours' notice, and a rate shown here is not an offer — availability depends on your circumstances, the property and the lender's own criteria.
