Homeowners race to get homes remortgaged
11/08/2015
A large number of homeowners are racing to get their homes remortgaged before the base interest rate rises.
Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed that remortgaging jumped by 30% in June, and was at its highest level since September 2013. During June 31,600 households changed their mortgage deals, compared with 24,300 in May. Price comparison website Comparethemarket also claimed it had said it had seen a 23% spike in remortgage queries between June and July.
Many homeowners not on fixed deals may see their payments rise when the base interest rate goes up, so have taken precautions to change their mortgage plan. The Bank of England (BoE) has claimed that interest rates could increase as soon as December this year. The last time interest rates increased was eight years ago in July 2007, which means up to one million homeowners have never experienced an interest rate rise, according to the Money Advice Trust.
Paul Smee, the director general of the CML, said:
"Notable this month is the uptick in remortgage activity among home-owners, perhaps reflecting an increased desire to lock into competitively-priced mortgage deals in advance of any rise in rates.
"It is likely that people are now beginning to feel a rate rise is a realistic prospect, and not just a distant theoretical possibility."
Need financial advice?
If you have any personal finance questions related to this news article, then please contact our financial advisers. You can get in touch by asking a question online, calling us on 0800 092 1245, or by arranging a visit.
Share this..
Related stories
UK mortgage loans increased by 12% in February
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today confirmed that mortgage agreements in February increased by 12% compared to January although the increase was 49% compared to February 2009. The value of loans agreed in February was also significantly, 9% up on January and a very impressive 67% up on February 2009. So what does this mean for the UK mortgage market? While any comparison between Ja...
Read MoreRecord number of mortgage complaints
14/05/2014 The Financial Ombudsman has received a record number of complaints about mortgages and claimed that a rising number of people are in “debt denial”. The service received 13,659 complaints about mortgages and secured loans in the past 12 months, an increase of 5.63% year-on-year. This is despite home repossessions dropping recently. Additionally, about 40% of these complaints...
Read MoreLabour promises first time buyers will be a priority
Labour leader Ed Milliband has promised priority for first time buyers to buy newly built houses in their communities. In the 2013 labour party conference Milliband promised to build 200,000 new homes a year by 2020. He asked Sir Michael Lyons to draw up a report, which would set out the changes to housing and planning policies and practice that are required to deliver the new homes. The repor...
Read MoreUK mortgage holders charged excess £1800 year
A Daily Mail investigation has today claimed that the average UK mortgage holder is now paying an excess of up to £1800 a year due to the fact that UK banks have failed to pass on recent base rate reductions. The investigation details the fact that in July 2008 the average mortgage rate was only 0.5% above the cost of borrowing on the money markets although today there appears to be an extra 2.61...
Read MoreRoyal Bank of Scotland refuses to pass on latest base rate cut
The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is now majority owned by the government, has refused to pass on the full savings of the Bank of England's half percent base rate cut this week. While they have vowed to pass on half of the interest rate reduction to their standard mortgage customers this has caused serious debate within financial circles with HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide confirming that the ful...
Read More