Current remortgage deals are some of the best offers of the decade available for homeowners.  Yet, demand for remortgage lending remains low.  A current report from the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported that there was a decline of 11.3% on remortgaging in February from the previous month. The volume of remortgage loans approved dropped by 12.4% to 17,812 from January data of 20,332.  In a year to year comparison there was a decline of 1.8% in comparing February 2013 remortgage lending to February 2012.

In response to the remortgage lending data for February, Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, said “February’s monthly 11.3% dip in remortgage lending can at least partly be attributed to a lull in remortgage applications over the Christmas and New Year period.

“However, the fact that it was still annually down by 1.8% suggests that the FLS (funding for lending scheme) still needs more time to bed in and we would urge the Government to continue with the scheme in its current form. This is hopefully now looking more likely in light of the Chancellor’s Budget statement.

“An extension of the FLS, together with continuing falls in mortgage rates for both new and existing borrowers, suggests that all types of mortgage lending should grow strongly over the coming months.”

The FLS offers lenders a cheaper source to fund their loans.  By borrowing from the government to fund lending they are able to escape the global lending market which is much more expensive.  Lowering the cost of funding allows lenders the ability to offer cheaper borrowing to consumers.  Homeowners that are due to remortgage or have already moved off of their current mortgage deal to their lender’s standard variable rate are suggested by experts to explore the current remortgage offers for possible savings.