Motivation to act in certain ways or respond to different stimuli differs for everyone. When it comes to making financial decisions, especially for a family household, motivation usually comes from saving money or making more money, or both. Remortgage decisions are no different. There is however one thing which is motivating many currently in their decision to remortgage or not. That decision is based on the fear of a rise in interest rates.

Fear is pushing many to remortgage now as opposed to later. The Bank of England has almost promised a rise in interest rates coming soon. Many experts have agreed that a rise in base rate which will lead to an instant rise in interest rates will not take place now until the beginning of next year. For house owners, that fear of not being locked into a fixed rate product is causing many to act now and avoid a disaster.

That fear is now even part of a statistic from the property service company, LMS, which has reported 30% of current remortgagors are acting out of fear of a rise in interest rates.

Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, commented on the fear which has permeated UK house owners, saying: “Competitive offers and the threat of a base-rate rise continues to drive remortgaging activity as winter approaches, even though an increase before the end of the year now appears unlikely.

“That said, it is better for borrowers to take the necessary measures in good time rather than be caught off guard when rates do rise. Consumers are certainly abreast of base rate speculation as it becomes am increasingly common topic of discussion.”

Knee added: “It remains worrying that we have a new generation of borrowers who have not experienced anything other than record-low rate mortgages, and who may be ill-placed to adjust when rates do rise. But hopefully the affordability requirements within the Mortgage Market Review will lessen this impact.”