A recently released report on remortgaging revealed that a large number of homeowners took advantage of seeking a deal before the August meeting of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). There had been warnings that the MPC could increase the rate, and as expected during the MPC meeting there was a majority vote to increase the rate by 0.25% which took the standard base rate to 0.75%. In consideration that this would mean the rate was three times the level seen during August 2017, it is no surprise that many sought to secure a low interest rate before the risk of an increase and it turns out that was a smart choice.

According to the report by UK Finance, the number of remortgages increased in July by 25% compared with the previous month. In comparison to the previous year there was an increase of 23% more homeowners seeking remortgages and the year on year increased by 26%. There were almost 46,900 homeowners that remortgaged in July, with landlords seeking deals added an additional 14,700 remortgages.

Jackie Bennett, UK Finance Director of Mortgages, remarked, “The residential remortgaging market saw its strongest July in over a decade, as homeowners pre-empted the latest Bank of England rate rise by locking into attractive fixed-rate deals.”

For those that have yet to remortgage, there are still attractive opportunities in remortgaging. Some lenders have yet to pass along the increase to borrowers, and while others have they are offering incentives that could make the overall savings on a remortgage better than the lowest interest rate offered. Homeowners are encouraged to take advantage of current remortgage deals because they should not be paying more out of their household budget than necessary if there are savings to be found.