Remortgage numbers spiked during first quarter of 2026

April 26, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill

Surveys and Statistics

The latest mortgage market figures show there was a big rise in the number of applications to remortgage during the first quarter, thanks to Covid-era deals ending.

This finding comes from the Mortgage Market Index (MMI) issued by Stonebridge. It is a new quarterly adaptation of the protection and mortgage network’s Mortgage Market Briefing and will look at changing trends by quarter. What the first MMI reveals is that remortgage applications rose by nearly 46% during the opening quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, overall application levels went up by 24.6% compared with the same time period in 2025.

It is the remortgage spike that accounts for much of the overall rise and the Stonebridge MMI identifies a clear reason for it. Back in spring 2021 – at the height of the Covid-19 crisis – average new mortgage rates were just 1.85%. A lot of borrowers who signed up to fixed rate five-year deals at this time are now reaching the end of those deals.

This is why a first quarter spike in remortgage levels was forecast in the final 2025 Credit Conditions Survey from the Bank of England.

Stonebridge chief executive Rob Clifford said to Financial Reporter that many borrowers were able to sign up to good fixed rate deals during the pandemic.
He continued by saying:

“Now that so many of those consumers are reaching the end of the deals they grabbed at that time, we are naturally seeing huge demand for advice on refinancing options.”

Those with CeMAP mortgage advisor training will focus on these borrowers in the coming months.