Remortgages became the item of choice and became very popular during the month of March.  This transpired due to higher confidence that the base rate will be changing soon.  The surge in remortgages was the only increasing piece of data for the mortgage industry in March, as lending remained subdued as a whole compared with last year.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, almost 34,000 remortgage loans were transacted in March.  This is an increase of 16% from February, and 17% compared with March of 2010.

Although, lenders are making fewer loans than they did last year.  Home loans are down almost 20% from the same time last year.  The loan figures from the first quarter of this year are also down almost 30%.

Michael Coogan, with the CML, commented on the first quarter, saying: "We saw a significant increase in both house purchase and remortgage lending in March but, over the first quarter of the year as a whole, the picture was subdued and that is unlikely to change for the forseeable future."

Peter Rollings, with Marsh and Parsons, discussed the huge deposit requirements, saying: "Underlying demand from the thousands of would-be buyers is being frustrated by the colossal deposits requirement, and this continues to take its toll on the number of people moving each month.”

It is still no secret that loan criteria is strict for a home loan to say the least.  With new taxation and increases in the prices of consumer goods across the UK, the loan market will continue to function at less than 100%.