The UK mortgage market has experienced a dramatic surge in demand from homebuyers so far this year. 

Experts are attributing the increased demand to the stamp duty holiday, low rates and a need fuelled by lockdown for more space at home.

Mortgage search organisations and price comparison websites have reported large surges of mortgage enquiries in March when the stamp duty holiday was extended.  In some cases, mortgage searches were up by more than 400 per cent between February and March.

At Howard Mortgages we’re currently seeing a significant number of new enquiries from a wide variety of clients.

Lee Howard, Howard Mortgages says: “As lockdown is easing and the country is opening up, people are now very keen to move home.  As we’ve all had to spend more time at home, we’ve seen pent-up demand from clients who’d like a bigger home or garden.  This coupled with the stamp duty holiday and a low-rate mortgage environment has encouraged many more people to move or remortgage. Mortgage rates are very low which is helping to give borrowers confidence.”

“It’s a very attractive time to move up the property ladder now, instead of waiting for a few years for some people.  For others, they’d like to remortgage to free up much needed capital, or to add space for a home office.”

Another reason for the more recent increased demand is the return of high loan to value (LTV) mortgages, and some think this could further stimulate interest in the coming months. Although some expect a calming in mortgage demand in the second half of the year, the return of high-LTV lending could alleviate some of that reduction.

Why seek professional mortgage advice?

It is very important to seek professional mortgage advice to suit your personal circumstances and financial wellbeing.  Our mortgage experts then will do the hard work for you to recommend the best product to suit your requirements.  If you would like to find out more, we offer an initial appointment at no cost or obligation to explore the options which can be done remotely via phone or video call such as Zoom or Skype.

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