There was strong growth in remortgaging in April 2018, with new homeowner mortgages up 36% and buy-to-let remortgages up 32.4% compared to the same month a year earlier according to UK Finance’s latest Mortgage Trends Update .

There were 26,700 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in the month, some 3.5% more than in the same month a year earlier. The £4.4bn of new lending in the month was 4.8% more year-on-year. The average first-time buyer is 30 and has a gross household income of £42,000.

Further, there were 25,100 new homemover mortgages completed in the month, some 4.2% fewer than in the same month a year earlier. The £5.4bn of new lending in the month was 3.6% down year-on-year. The average homemover is 39 and has a gross household income of £55,000.

There were 40,800 new homeowner remortgages completed in the month, some 36 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £7.5bn of remortgaging in the month was 44.2 per cent more year-on-year.

In addition, there were 5,000 new buy-to-let house purchase mortgages completed in the month, some 5.7% fewer than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £0.7bn of lending in the month, 12.5% down year-on-year.

There were 14,300 new buy-to-let remortgages completed in the month, some 32.4% more than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £2.3bn of lending in the month, 35.3% more year-on-year.

Commenting on the data, UK Finance director of mortgages Jackie Bennett said: “Remortgaging activity bounced back to strong levels in April, as both homeowners and landlords put their house in order by locking into attractive fixed-rate deals ahead of an anticipated interest rate rise.

“This spike in remortgaging was also driven by a large number of fixed-term mortgage deal rates coming to an end, combined with increased efforts by lenders to contact their customers before their deal rate expires.

“The number of first-time buyers has grown year on year, outstripping the number of homemovers. This may reflect the impact of measures such as the recent stamp duty cut and the Help to Buy scheme that are focused on getting more people onto the housing ladder.”

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