A prominent mortgage industry figure has suggested that people who currently have mortgages are holding off as long as possible before switching, in the hopes of landing a deal with better rates.
This suggestion was made by Claire Askham, who is the mortgage sales head for Buckinghamshire Building Society. She was talking during the Lenders Live event hosted by Knowledge Bank and argued that borrowers who are coming to the finish of deals are waiting for a potential reduction in the base rate during August. Askham claimed that this is because it opens up the possibility of new products with lower rates being launched, as well as better rates for existing products.
The Bank of England (BoE) made the decision this month to keep the base rate on the same level of 5.25%. That marked the seventh successive month without change. Many within the industry feel that inflation falling to 2% will be when the BoE feels happy enough about the economic situation to lower it.
According to Mortgage Strategy, Askham told Lenders Live that some people with mortgages will look to switch as soon as possible, because they are finding their present repayments too onerous. Askham added:
“However, other customers who are not in that position will wait and see what happens as to whether they feel they’re going to be able to secure a much better rate.”
Mortgage advisors with CeMAP training should be promoting their ability to help borrowers who are reaching the end of deals find new ones that suit them.