Homeowners took notice of the warnings of rising interest rates at the end of last year and sought out remortgages. The high demand could have been kicked into high gear when the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) chose to hike the standard base interest rate during their December meeting. The expectation had been that the rate would be increased soon and perhaps in the first quarter of 2022. However, inflation grew at such a rate that the MPC took action sooner and the rate hike of December caused homeowners to become aware of the need to remortgage or face higher rates and pay more than necessary.

According to data from the Bank of England, 28% of mortgage lending in the last quarter of 2021 was for remortgages. 

Homeowners had been for many years enjoying historic low rates. In fact, the Bank’s rate before the first hike in December had been almost zero at 0.1%. In the last three consecutive MPC meetings the rate has been increased each meeting and now stands at 0.75%. It is not likely to be the last increase before summer as inflation is still strongly climbing which could prompt another hike even by the next meeting on 5 May.

By remortgaging, especially for fixed rate remortgage deals, homeowners are able to lock in the low interest rate deal they find now versus being at the mercy of rising rates in the months and years ahead. Some homeowners are choosing to pay penalty fees to end their current mortgage deal early to remortgage now instead of later. This allows them to take advantage of the present day low interest rates that are expected to disappear soon.

Experts encourage all homeowners to shop for remortgage opportunities to determine what savings and benefits are available. For some homeowners, locking in a low interest rate for a long term with a fixed rate deal is the priority. Others may choose to remortgage to move away from their lender’s risky standard variable rate (SVR) rather than be at the mercy of quickly changing rates and being forced to rush to remortgage later on. Some homeowners may be shopping for a remortgage while seeking to cash out their built up equity to put money in hand for any need the homeowner desires.

Remortgage shopping is easy and quick to do online. A homeowner can go to a remortgage lender’s website and obtain quotes. It is simple to go website to website and gather the information to determine what offers are possible. It is even simpler to visit a website of a remortgage broker and obtain many quotes from various lenders at one time. Brokers could have exclusive deals from lenders and that alone could be worth visiting a broker’s site for those offers.

While remortgage lending was in high demand at the end of last year, it is certainly possible that it has continued into 2022 and will remain so as the threat of ever rising rates continues. By shopping online and determining what deals are possible, it allows a homeowner to determine their needs and opportunities through remortgaging. The strategy to shop sooner rather than later is encouraged by experts as the deals of today could soon disappear and leave a homeowner having missed out.