Homeowners are starting to take advantage of the low interest rates being offered on remortgage deals from lenders.  According to the latest figures from LMS, remortgage lending rose in March by 12.9%.  Remortgage lending grew to £2.9 billion from the £2.6 billion reported in February.  Total gross mortgage lending amounted to £11.6 billion which means that remortgaging amounted to a quarter of all mortgage lending.  There were an estimated 20,669 remortgages completed in March which is an increase over the previous month but still lower than the 27,534 reported last year in March 2012.  Lenders are in a competitive mode and deals continue to be very attractive.

Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, remarked “Remortgage borrowers are also taking advantage of current competitive mortgage rates to increase the size of their mortgage borrowing, releasing an average of £20,982 cash in order to spend or reduce other debts.

“As a result, remortgage borrowers are also taking on higher repayment commitments relative to their income.

“Remortgage repayments as a percentage of income are now at the highest for over three years at 21.2%. This percentage is now almost the same as for new purchase borrowers, 21.4%, who have typically borrowed more than remortgagers.”

Experts suggest homeowners consider a remortgage if their current mortgage deal is ending.  Current remortgage deals are considerably lower than lenders standard variable rates (SVR) with many remortgages being almost half the interest rate of a SVR.  Shopping around or using a remortgage broker could help a homeowner discover the best deal for their remortgage needs.