The UK housing market of last year saw newsworthy items have an impact on most sectors, and some sectors unfavourably. Other sectors, however, saw drastic improvements after a period of slowdown immediately following the historic Brexit vote which took place in June. One sector to thrive after a brief pause in activity level was the remortgage sector.

Remortgage activity, according to the latest data to emerge, increased in each of the four quarters of last year. Overall, almost 40% of all mortgage lending throughout the year was remortgage lending. UK house owners realised a savings on average per month of about £50 after obtaining a remortgage.

A 7% increase in remortgage lending took place over the course of last year, according to the latest data from Paragon Mortgages. Interest rates remained quite low and that was the biggest attribute to lender deals and their ability to save home owners money. Not only did home owners save money, but they also accessed valuable home equity which was put to good use.

John Heron of Paragon Mortgages commented on the latest data to surface, saying: “Our survey data shows increased levels of activity over 2016 driven particularly by borrowers remortgaging to better rates. These are as likely to be longer term fixes as they are short term deals which bode well for customer resilience in an uncertain market.”

Heron added: “Buy to let had a very strong start to the year with customers looking to beat the stamp duty deadline. There was an inevitable decline in lending in the second quarter of the year but volumes have slowly improved as landlords have developed their strategies to mitigate higher taxes on rental income.”