Remortgaging at its lowest level for 15 years

One million people have remortgaged their property once since 2005

Remortgaging accounted for around 316,000 loans in 2012, worth £41 billion, according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders,  the lowest number of borrowers remortgaging since 1997.

Their figures show that since 2005, between 50 per cent and two-thirds of those remortgaging have also withdrawn equity (home improvements and/or consolidating debts are given as the main reasons in about half of cases).

The report also reveal that of a total of 6.9 million regulated mortgages taken out since 2005 and still active in March 2012, one million (14 per cent) had remortgaged their property once since 2005, and 130,000 (two per cent) had refinanced more than once.

Earlier this week, the Council of Mortgage Lenders released figures showing £12.1 billion in gross mortgage lending in April, a 21 per cent increase year-on-year (though this was severely affected by the stamp-duty holiday last year)

Commenting on these figures, Duncan Kreeger, director at peer-to-peer lender West One Loans, said: “Far from recuperating, the biggest lenders are still reeling from a crisis that struck over five years ago.  Gross mortgage lending in the last twelve months represents only 40 per cent of the 2007 level. But even this meagre flat-lining has only been possible thanks to huge subsidy. Strong comparisons with a year ago only reflect just how dependent the high-street lenders are on government support."