So, as we motor into December and the Christmas parties begin in earnest, we might well think that this is the start of an ultra-quiet period for the UK housing and mortgage market. Well, think again.
This year December in particular feels like it has a real sense of potential, not just in terms of what can be achieved before the nation puts its feet up, but also in terms of how we can kick-start 2025.
There are a number of reasons for this, not least the fact we all have a degree of clarity and certainty that we simply didn’t have for long periods of 2024.
Yes, we might not have liked a lot that came out of the end-of-October-Budget but at least we now know; similarly the US Presidential Election result has been resolved, and soon we will know what our own MPC decides when it comes to Bank Base Rate (BBR) at its December meeting.
The uncertainty which marked a lot of this year is now dissipating away, and as a result, those who might have been waiting to be active in the housing market are likely to have far more clarity about what they should do and when.
On top of this, we have a stamp duty deadline in place; at least we do for first-time buyers which means there is money to be saved by completing purchases before the start of April, and we are already seeing an increase in purchase activity because of this.
Flipping it over to remortgage business, UK Finance recently revealed that 1.8 million fixed-rate borrowers are coming up for renewal next year, but at the same time we also have a considerable number of borrowers coming up for renewal right now.
Interestingly, those coming off two-year deals will be doing so in a more attractive rate environment than the one they had to deal with in Winter 2022 when we were all still trying to get our heads around the issues created by the ‘Mini Budget’.
Now, those borrowers can come off those higher rates, secure lower ones and potentially get a much cheaper monthly mortgage payment as a result.
Let’s not underestimate how important that can be in the current environment, especially if advisers are able to recommend a remortgage to another lender which opens up many more ancillary sales opportunities such as protection, GI, and conveyancing.
On that point, Land Registry has recently upped its fees for information services which, we believe, will add about £15-plus to each remortgage case. Companies (like ourselves) may decide to absorb those fees within their most popular remortgage products– allowing brokers to continue securing the level of referral fee they want, and ensuring this cost isn’t passed on to clients, who continue to get access to high-quality conveyancing.
Overall then December feels like a month which should be treated as the first of a new year, rather than the last of 2024. It has the potential to allow advisers and firms to hit the ground running and the opportunities it presents should not be overlooked, whether that is mortgage advice or everything else that comes with it.
On that note, this is my last blog for Mortgage Strategy for 2024 and I am going to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.
Mark Tosetti is chief executive officer of Broker Conveyancing