The value of remortgages topped £7 billion in October

The value of remortgages topped £7 billion in October - a jump of nearly 16% on the previous month.

New data from trade association UK Finance shows that the number and value of loans for remortgaging and for house purchases all rose in October in comparison with the previous month and with October 2016.

UK Finance head of mortgage policy June Deasy said: "Over the last year, the number of loans for remortgaging have been at record levels. This trend looks set to continue further as we head towards the end of 2017 and borrowers seek to take advantage of low interest rates.

“Mortgage repayments as a proportion of income still remain at or close to their historic low point and, despite the recent base-rate rise, we can expect monthly mortgage payments to remain affordable for the vast majority of borrowers.”

First-time buyers borrowed £5.1billion in October, up 2% on the previous month and 13.3% higher than in October 2016. There were 31,700 loans awarded, ahead 3.6% on October and 10.5% more than a year ago.

Home movers

Home movers borrowed £7 billion in October, up 2.9% on September and 18.6% higher year-on-year There were 33,300 home movers, an increase of 5% on September and a 15.6% jump on October 2016.

Remortgaging and buy-to-let

Homeowner remortgage activity totalled £7.3billion in October, up 15.9% on September and 17.7% higher than a year ago. That corresponded to 41,100 remortgages, an increase of 16.1% on September and a 12-month rise of 16.4%.

Buy-to-let remortgaging totalled £2.4billion in October, up 20% on the month before and October 2016. Remortgaging now accounts for just over 70% of all buy-to-let lending. There were 14,700 buy-to-let remortgages, up 20.5% on the previous month – and a 21.5% annual increase.

Gross buy-to-let lending for house purchasers totalled £900million in October, unchanged on September 2017 and October 2016.  That equated to 6,600 mortgages. 

UK Finance was formed in July 2017 to represent the finance and banking industry operating in Britain. It represents around 300 firms providing credit, banking, markets and payment-related services.

Mortgage experts

With mortgage rates at record lows, many people can save substantial sums of money each month by remortgaging.