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Remortgaging rockets to nine-year high

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
01/12/2017

Mortgage lending rose in October, according to the Bank of England, as borrowers flocked to remortgage their existing homeloans.

Lending increased to £22.3bn in October, from £21.4bn in September, with £9.3bn coming from remortgagors.

And the number of remortgage approvals increased to 51,593, up 7% over the month from 48,133 in Sepember.

This marked the highest number of switchers in one month since October 2008.

Renewal time

The boost in remortgage lending came for two reasons. Firstly there was a spike in the number of deals coming to maturity last month – such as fixed rates coming up for renewal – so the switching surge was expected.

Secondly, many borrowers anticipated the Bank of England’s Base Rate rise and wanted to lock into a low rate before they increased.

Lea Karasavvas, managing director of Prolific Mortgage Finance, said: “Homeowners were literally falling over themselves to remortgage in October as the rhetoric from the Bank of England reached fever pitch.

“It’s a fine example of the wisdom of the crowd, as the public put pen to paper in greater numbers than at any time since the crash, and just in the nick of time.”