The number of product transfers completed on an execution-only basis dropped by 4.8 per cent in 2019, while the number of advised transfers increased by 6.9 per cent, the latest data from UK Finance reveals.

Over the course of 2019, nearly 1.2m borrowers switched mortgages worth a total of £167bn to a new deal their existing lender – an increase of 1.4 per cent year on year.

This compares to a total of £266bn lent to new home buyers and remortgage borrowers who switched lender over the course of last year.

Of the total number of product transfers, 662,700 were advised and 532,400 execution only.

In the final quarter of 2019 the number of product transfers dropped by 4.6 per cent year on year to 309,300.

Of these, 166,700 were advised and 142,600 were execution-only.

Product transfers totalled £44.3bn in the fourth quarter – a decrease of 1.5 per cent year on year. 

Of this £25.2 billion was advised and £19.2 billion was execution-only.

Habito chief strategy officer Martijn van der Heijden says: “UK Finance’s latest product transfer data shows a decline in product transfers.

“This supports a trend we have observed in our customer data which shows that remortgages as a percentage of transactions are tracking around 2 per cent higher at the start of 2020 compared to the same period last year. 

“Although it is still quite early to draw firm conclusions, it appears that an increasing number of people are turning to free, whole of market brokers to take advantage of great advice and highly competitive low-interest-rate deals, rather than simply continuing with the same provider.

“This is an encouraging trend.”