Remortgage approvals and house purchases are both on the decline. According to the latest data from the British Board of Agrement, year on year figures indicate a 20% decrease compared with 2013. Remortgages started out the year on fire, similar to other market activity. Borrowers and house purchasers started to slow down in the fall of the year and have continued that trend to now.

Activity of both remortgages as well as original loan applications is expected to pick up during the spring of the year, as the natural buying season for the UK housing market revs up once again. The mystery of when the base rate will be increased has kept many homeowners on the fence with their decisions to move, or to remortgage. Demand has slowed and that has created heavy competition among lenders.

Tighter lending regulations slowed the amount of approvals within the market, but programmes like Help to Buy have offset the lull and created up and down statistics through the year.

Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, commented on the UK housing market and the months coming, saying: “Going into 2015 there is hope for greater stability in the marketplace so long as uncertainty ahead of the election does not play too large a role and economic conditions continue to improve. News of wage rises and a continued decline in unemployment will also serve to boost conditions.

“With the election looming next year, housing is likely to be a priority for all political parties and it will be interesting to see how they tackle the challenges facing the sector.”