Homeowners have been facing a tightening of the belt from lenders as many are reining in their lending levels in the mortgage market.  Both Lloyds Banking Group and Santander have given notice that they will be lending less to homeowners and home buyers in the future.  However, there are some lenders that are ready to make a deal with borrowers that want to remortgage or purchase their own property.  The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has given notice that they are not intending to tighten their books but rather are ready and willing to help out those in search of a deal.

Stephen Hester, Chief Executive of RBS, said, “We have expanded in mortgages all the way through the crisis.  Others are having to shrink but we have more deposits than loans [in our core business]. We would like to find more people to lend to.”

RBS recently announced that they are due shortly to repay the last payment of £5.7 billion towards its credit line with the government on a £75 billion bailout that occurred during the financial crisis. 

It will do well for lenders that are willing to make attractive offers to mortgage borrowers in this current market for remortgage demand is rising.  Lately some lenders raised their standard variable rate (SVR) making remortgages much more appealing to homeowners than they had been in months past.  Homeowners are anxious to escape the rising interest rates from lenders and are willing to shop around to find a cheap remortgage deal that will offer them more security than a lender’s SVR.