Refinancing through the Starter Mortgage Programme – Does it Affect the Subsequent Housing Career?

In this project the researchers investigate how persons who receive refinancing through the starter mortgage programme fare.

Refinancing though the starter mortgage programme has become increasingly more common over the last couple of years, accounting for 20 percent of mortgages originated in 2017. In this project we propose to investigate how this group fares over time with respect to different housing outcomes such as tenure, residential mobility and housing size and type, as well as neighbourhood quality.

Comparing applicants who are granted refinancing to their counterparts whose applications are rejected, we aim to tease out the causal effect that access to refinancing at favourable terms may have on their subsequent housing career in the event of family breakdown or a financial crisis.