Many people move frequently in order to make money on their home, developing their residence and then moving on – this kind of low-key property development is a valuable source of extra income for many people.

To reflect the strength of the housing market, the mortgage market has become highly competitive, with most lenders offering attractive rates for the initial “tie-in” period (usually a term of one or two years). As a result, canny homeowners can shop around for the best deal at the end of their tie-in period and usually find a better deal on their mortgage.

Remortgaging can also allow you to borrow more money – either on increased income, leveraging the increased value of your home or simply finding a lender that can offer you more.

For many people, remortgaging their home can be an opportunity to alleviate credit problems or sort out mortgage arrears. Rather than continue a downward spiral of debt, with the threat of repossession at the end of it, many people opt to remortgage their home to get access to the equity tied up in their home and get a mortgage package more suited to their lifestyle, ending the debt nightmare.

There are specialist companies that arrange mortgages for customers who have had credit problems in the past – even CCJs, mortgage arrears and repossession. Even if you've been refused elsewhere, the chances are we can help.

There is however one drawback with frequent remortgaging – mortgage set-up fees and broker fees.

The Council Of Mortgage Lenders recently reported that 52% of homeowners have remortgaged at least once in the last five years. In our experience, many people today could expect to remortgage their home up to ten times during the lifetime of the mortgage.

That could result in thousands of pounds worth of fees. Ideally, throughout the lifetime of your mortgage you can avoid having to pay mortgage arrangement fees again, as some companies offer various incentives to make you use their services time and time again.

The companies want and need your repeated business. The biggest incentive to you is that every time you use their services you have access to a panel of lenders that can offer highly competitive rates and terms, that means that your mortgage will always be one of the best available on the market for your needs.

Secondly, for many of those with short-term cash flow difficulties can make it difficult to get the fees to remortgage your home. That means that for the sake of a couple of hundred quid, you could lose a fortune in high interest repayments once your mortgage reverts to the lender's standard rate at the end of your tie-in period.