Building societies consistently offered the best value mortgages during 2007, research finds.

Figures released by mortgage information website mform.co.uk show that building societies occupied all of the top 10 places for lenders.

Mform.co.uk ranked best buy products across all product categories based on the true cost of a mortgage, including all fees.

Each time a lender appeared in the top 10 of a best buy league table, they were awarded a point, with those that had the most points at the end of the year judged to offer the best value.

Furness Building Society, based in Barrow-in-Furness, was easily the most competitive mortgage lender in 2007, with a total score of 86.

Skipton took second place on 55 points, followed by Britannia in third on 51 and Nottingham in fourth on 49.

Francis Ghiloni, mform.co.uk: "Borrowers need to understand that simply because a lender was excellent when they last bought a mortgage, it doesn't follow that they will still be the best."

Darlington (43) came fifth, with Coventry (41) sixth and Yorkshire (40) seventh.

Cumberland (39), West Bromwich (37) and Cheshire (35) completed mform.co.uk's top 10.

Giraffe, owned by Bank of Ireland, was the best ranked bank in 11th place.

Abbey, in 17th spot, was the highest-placed of the major lenders. Halifax, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, was ranked a lowly 36th.

Francis Ghiloni, mform.co.uk marketing and business development director, said: "Borrowers need to understand that simply because a lender was excellent when they last bought a mortgage, it doesn't follow that they will still be the best.

"It changes every day which is why they borrowers should search the market as widely as possible when sourcing a mortgage.

"It is striking that none of the biggest lenders figure in the top 10 for consistently competitive products.

"Regional lenders have broadened their customer base by using the internet while borrowers can cut their mortgage costs by using the internet to search out the best possible deals."

Furness chief executive Rob Cairns was delighted that his company had topped the mform.co.uk mortgage league table.

"This is great news not just for our present members but also for our future members. To be named as most competitive lender, isn’t bad for someone based in Barrow-in-Furness, is it?," he said.

"We always knew we offered some of the best mortgage deals but to be recognised in this way will hopefully say to a lot of potential future customers 'come to the Furness as we are a dynamic, forward thinking, modern lender that offers some of the most competitive mortgage products."

The article Building societies offer 'best value' mortgages originally appeared on 999 Today