Lenders have pulled their long-term mortgage deals to stop homebuyers locking in cheap repayments as they prepare for further increases in interest rates by the Bank of England.

Nearly two in five 10-year loans, which allowed homeowners to lock in rates as low as 2.8pc for a decade, have vanished from the market in just six weeks. 

Banks have scrambled to protect themselves from higher borrowing costs and there were just 114 deals left on the market this week – the lowest recorded since April last year, according to Moneyfacts, an analyst. Last month there were 180 mortgages on offer.

Buyers have been rushing to lock in lower mortgage costs for longer periods since the Bank of England started to raise interest rates from at the end of last year.

Analysts have forecast a further 0.25 percentage point increase in the Bank Rate to 0.75pc at today’s Bank of England meeting. Rates are expected to hit 2pc by 2023, according to research consultancy Capital Economics.

Lenders had become increasingly jittery over such long-term offers, worried they would quickly become unprofitable as rates rose even further to tackle inflation figures not seen in 30 years.