Remortgaging expected to overtake purchase loans in Q1
January 20, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill
Property Market
Mortgage industry observers are expecting remortgaging business to overtake purchase loans during the first quarter of this year, due to fixed rate deals coming to an end.
Figures show that roughly 1.8 million borrowers will reach the end of their fixed rate loans during this quarter. Most of them will be looking for refinancing options, so they can avoid sharp rises in their mortgage rates. The mortgage network Stonebridge recently released data revealing that two-thirds of lending activity in October 2025 was made up of remortgaging and product transfers. Both are almost certain to increase in popularity at the start of this year.
At the same time, the Credit Conditions Survey from the Bank of England covering the final quarter of last year shows that purchase mortgage demand dropped. A further fall in demand for loans of that type is predicted during the first quarter of 2026.
Stonebridge is keen to point out though that the overall outlook for purchase mortgages remains good. There have still been more loans of this kind agreed per month than there were last year.
Simon Gammon works for Knight Frank Finance as a managing partner. He said that big lenders had reduced rates at the beginning of the year and that this was keeping activity levels high. He then went on to add that:
“We expect activity to keep picking up as the lenders continue to trim rates during the weeks ahead.”
Many advisors who have done the CeMAP mortgage advisor course may be looking to focus more on remortgaging this year.
Written by
Brendan O'Neill
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