The stamp duty holiday has caused a shift in homeowner attitudes, with less focus on remortgaging and more on home buying. 

Data from online broker Trussle shows new mortgage applications are up by 51 per cent in 2020, when compared to 2019 figures. The figures show more homeowners are now moving home (56 per cent) when compared to those remortgaging their current property (44 per cent). 

This is a complete turnaround from this time last year where 63 per cent were prioritising a remortgage, compared to just 37 per cent moving home.

Trussle says this “mini property boom” has largely been caused by the temporary stamp duty holiday. This has motivated many ‘next-time buyers’ to bring forward moving plans, with the prospect of significant savings on stamp duty, particularly for larger properties. 

Homeowner Trussle’s figures show appetite for remortgaging started off the year strong, with applications in January up 196 per cent month-on-month, according to its data.

It says that while the new year is often a popular time to remortgage, this trend was further fuelled by the coronavirus pandemic, and as the UK entered lockdown remortgage applications jumped 54 per cent during March. It said this was due to people trying to maximise savings in the face of an uncertain economic outlook.

However, following the stamp duty announcement there has been a surge of buyers. Trussle says this demand has been so strong over the autumn months this has caused delays in the market, which has resulted in it now taking  around 115 days to complete on a property in England. 

Trussle head of mortgages Miles Robinson says:  “After an uncertain year, it’s encouraging to see house prices rising and the property market moving, with a sustained interest for house moves.” 

He points out though that homeowners should not lose sight of the potential savings to be made via remortgaging.  “In these unprecedented times, we’d encourage those who are concerned about their finances to keep an eye on their mortgage.”