Leeds Building Society has become the first to offer remortgages on the Help to Buy scheme.

From the 12 March, the lender claimed to be the first to offer the scheme not only to first time buyers, but to those who have already purchased through Help to Buy and want to remortgage the home that they already own.

The products offered apparently include a 1.99 per cent two-year discount mortgage, a two-year fixed rate 2.34 per cent mortgage, and a five-year fixed rate 2.99 per cent mortgage, all available up to a 75 per cent loan to value.

This should help to loosen up the market a bit, and give those who have had to depend on the scheme freedom to try and get a better deal.

In some cases, purchasing through Help to Buy was necessary, but limited, and people could well have locked into a mortgage which didn’t quite fit right. This will hopefully help people meet their economic needs on a competitive level with the rest of the market.

As rates have never been lower, according to Martin Richardson, the generally manager of Leeds Building Society, this is a great time to try and remortgages.

He said “When Help to Buy Equity was launched in May 2013, the average two year fixed rate mortgage was 3.8 per cent, but by February 2015 this had fallen to 3.14 per cent. In an average £140,000 mortgage with a 25 year term this would bring down monthly repayments by more than £49 per month.”

With the building society leading the way, other mortgage lenders will hopefully follow suit and open up the market to make it more flexible and accommodating.