The remortgage market saw instruction volumes rise by 19.4 per cent in January, shows the monthly mortgage snapshot report from LMS.

Completion volumes also grew – by 6.3 per cent – while the cancellation rate ticked up by 0.6 per cent to 7.72 per cent.

Meanwhile, the remortgage pipeline decreased by 7.8 per cent due to completion and cancellations rising, LMS says.

The report adds that 48 per cent of borrowers increased their loan size at the start of the year and that over half – 54 per cent – of remortgagers opted for a five-year fixed rate product.

The average remortgage amount in the UK grew by 4 per cent across the month, coming to £177,740. The North West saw the biggest growth here – 6 per cent – coming to £143, 614, while Scotland housed the most significant fall in this metric – a fall of 8 per cent, bringing the average remortgage amount to £124,687.

In London, the average remortgage amount ticked down by 1 per cent, meaning the average remortgage amount for a property in the capital was £307,578 in January.

Nearly a third of remortgages, 29 per cent, detailed equity release as the primary motivation behind their decision.

LMS chief executive Nick Chadbourne says: “The steadying market is already having a positive impact on remortgage activity as industry capacity returns to normal levels and stakeholders have the necessary time to process remortgage cases at healthy rates.

“We can expect an incredibly busy next few months in both the purchase and remortgage markets which may run into early summer given the current turnaround times. Covid-19 has forced homeowners to re-evaluate their priorities in terms of space, location and accessibility, and these factors will continue to buoy the purchase market for months to come, and likely impact remortgage decisions too.

“However, the easing of social distancing measures will allow more staff to return to offices and give the industry the necessary resources and tools to process.”