Homeowners have been divided into three distinct groups.  There have been those that are keen to take advice of the experts and remortgage as soon as they are able to do so to take advantage of the cheap remortgage deals.  The second group is those that cannot remortgage due to being in negative equity or having difficulty getting approval.  Then there is the third group of homeowners that have been described as playing the “wait and see” game.

The wait and see group of homeowners are watching to see what happens before they remortgage.  They either have little incentive to remortgage or they are hopeful to wait and perhaps see the market lower rates even cheaper.  They are not in a hurry to take on a new remortgage deal and miss out on a better deal later on.

Once a homeowner’s current mortgage deal ends they usually seek a remortgage.  If they don’t remortgage then they move off of their current deal when it ends and convert to their lender’s standard variable rate (SVR).  In the past that would have put fear into the heart of a homeowner with a tight budget or the inability to handle fluctuations in an interest rate that could mean a major increase.  The low interest rates of the past few years have allowed homeowners to covert to their lender’s SVR without fear. 

Recently lenders have begun to announce they will be increasing their SVR and for some they have already announced several increases to occur.  This means the homeowners that have been content to wait and see while they pay a low interest rate have an entirely new environment developing in regards to their mortgage.  Things are changing and it is time for homeowners to take action and leave behind the risky wait and see mentality.