Remortgage lending has remained in high demand from homeowners according to recent data. The latest figures from UK Finance revealed that remortgage drove the increase in overall gross mortgage lending in the first quarter by 4% in comparison to the first quarter of 2017. This was despite a slow March with demand falling by 2.3% against last year’s March.

Home approvals for the first quarter declined by 14% to 100,559 in contrast to the 116,275 recorded in the first three months of last year. March data was 21% under compared to the previous 12 months data. Remortgage approvals were up by 1%.

March was a hard weather month and lending could have been impacted by the inclement weather. As warnings have increased for another rate hike by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) there has been an expectation that homeowners would be seeking safety from paying more than they have to in their mortgage repayments. Therefore, remortgage lending should continue to be strong.

There is a possibility that first time buyers will step up and make the most of the current low interest rates available as well.

If the MPC does indeed increase the rate at their next meeting, then it could be another 0.25% increase to the current 0.50% standard base rate bringing the base rate to 0.75%. Even such a minimal rate could amount to a lot of money. Consider that this would be three times the interest rate level that existed prior to the first increase in November 2017.

All eyes will be on the MPC meeting to either discover there has been another increase, or the mood of the meeting that could hint of when an increase would occur. However, waiting until the rate increases might be a tad too late for those looking to grab the very best deals from lenders. Once the rate is deemed increased by the MPC lenders, will react quickly and homeowners and home buyers will be forced to rush to save money.