Remortgage activity doubled in second half of 2015

The remortgage market doubled its 2014 activity in the six months to November 2015.

The remortgage market doubled its 2014 activity in the six months to November 2015, Accord data has found.

Applications for remortgages rose by 98% over the period, while later in the year activity increases became even more pronounced.

In September applications were 143% higher than the same month in 2014 before dropping to 101% in October and rising again to 150% in November.

David Hollingworth, associate director, communications, at London & Country Mortgages, said: “It’s good to see a healthy number of borrowers taking the opportunity to review their mortgage and take advantage of the very competitive rates on offer.

“The combined appeal of cutting monthly payments and protecting against future rate rises should maintain a strong level of interest.

“Rates have not only improved for those with big deposits but also for those higher up the LTV scale, so there should be even more people that can now grab the opportunity to cut their mortgage costs.”

David Robinson, Accord’s national intermediary sales manager, said borrowers remain hungry to remortgage despite the Bank of England playing down the likelihood of an imminent base rate rise.

He added: “Brokers have an important role to play in advising and helping their clients understand whether now could be the best time to remortgage.

“It’s a good opportunity for brokers to start a conversation with anyone who is coming to the end of the fixed rate tie-in on their mortgage, to examine whether they would benefit by fixing now while market conditions are still extremely favourable to borrowers.”