Loans for homeowner improvements increase

July 14, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill

Borrowers

The latest research appears to show that UK homeowners are opting to improve their homes instead of moving to new ones.

This is the view of Loans Warehouse, which is a company that offers secured loans. It based the view on the most recent House Price Index from Nationwide. This shows a slowing down in annual growth to just 2.2% and shows that there was no meaningful change in average house prices over the course of last month.

In the wake of the House Price Index being published, Reuters produced a report. This highlighted likely causes of the slowdown, including reduced confidence among buyers, higher mortgage rates, and overall affordability pressures.

At the same time, Loans Warehouse is stating that there is activity in other areas. The number of people taking out a mortgage to move house may be slowing, but more people are applying for secured loans. The second quarter of this year saw a 14% increase in this compared with the opening quarter.

Most people who are taking out secured loans are using the money for property improvements. Examples include both refurbishments and the construction of extensions.

Matt Tristram is the co-founder of Loans Warehouse. Speaking to Mortgage Strategy he said:

“Many borrowers have built up substantial equity over recent years but are reluctant to remortgage because they’re sitting on historically low fixed-rate mortgage deals.”

This would seem to indicate that second charge mortgage lending will remain an additional revenue stream for advisors after they complete the CeMAP mortgage advisor qualification.