Rate of remortgaging surges to ten-year high as homeowners lock in amid ‘competitive market’

Britain saw its highest levels of remortgaging in a decade during October, with homeowners locking into new deals as competition between lenders heats up.

According to new figures from UK Finance there were 50,500 new homeowner remortgages completed in October, rising 23.2 per cent when compared with the same month a year earlier.

The £9.2bn of remortgaging in the month was 22.7 per cent higher year-on-year.

UK Finance’s director of mortgages Jackie Bennett said that the high levels of growth was driven by homeowners taking advantage of a competitive market and locking into attractive deals.

The rise also reflected a large number of fixed rate mortgages coming to an end, she said.

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. This trend is set to continue into 2019."

Harris added: "Landlords are also remortgaging as they make their property portfolios work harder and squeeze out every bit of profit they can. First-time buyers are taking advantage of the lack of competition from landlords for smaller properties, such as one-bedroom flats, and we expect this to continue into next year."

Today’s data also showed that some 32,900 new first-time buyer mortgages were completed in October, marking an 8.2 per cent rise from the same month last year.

Bennett said: "There has been relatively strong growth in the number of first-time buyers, with schemes such as Help to Buy providing vital support to those getting a foot on the housing ladder."