Remortgaging soars as homeowners lock in low interest deals

The number of people remortgaging rose to its highest level for nearly a decade, as homeowners took advantage of an increasingly competitive market to lock in low interest rate deals.

According to UK Finance, the trade body of the banking industry, there were 50,500 new homeowner remortgages completed in November, a 23.2% jump on the previous year. The value of the remortgages was £9.2bn, a 22.7% increase.

The number of first-time buyers also increased, up 8.2% to 32,900, with a 12.2% increase in new lending to £5.5bn, as schemes such as Help to Buy continued to underpin the market. But the number of buy-to-let mortgages continued to fall, down 9% to 6,100, as changes to the tax regime continued to depress investor appetite for residential propert. The combined value of buy-to-let loans was £0.8bn, a 20% decline.

Jackie Bennett, director of mortgages at UK Finance, said: “Remortgaging has reached its highest level in almost a decade, as homeowners take advantage of a competitive market and lock into attractive deals. This also reflects the large number of fixed-rate mortgages coming to an end, which is expected to continue into 2019.”

Mike Scott, chief property analyst at estate agent Yopa, said: "These figures confirm government data for the number of house sales in October, which also showed a year-on-year increase. The political uncertainty around Brexit has not hit sales activity, and so the market seems well placed for an active start to the new year once the Christmas slowdown is over."

Jonathan Harris, director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris, said: "Remortgaging is at a decade high as borrowers, fuelled by continuing uncertainty around Brexit and the economy, take advantage of cheap rates. With the number of new purchases remaining subdued, lenders are focusing on where the business is and offering competitive deals to those coming off fixed-rate mortgages. The trend is set to continue into 2019."

Wednesday’s political machinations from the Conservative party also has the potential to hit the property market for six, said Mark Dyason, of the specialist property finance broker Thistle Finance.

"The Government is in a state of absolute crisis and the impact of this on the property market during 2019 is looking more ominous by the day. The property market is powered by confidence and positive sentiment, and right now there is very little of either," he said.

The remortgaging data shows as that people were battening down the hatches ahead of a potentially brutal storm, he added. "Developers are also losing confidence by the day. New housing orders fell during the latest quarter and with the way events in Westminster are unfolding they could be in freefall by early 2019."