The UK mortgage market hit an 11-month high in January with £12.8 billion of loans approved, according to new figures from the Bank of England.
The Bank’s Money and Credit report showed that mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 69,928 in January, up from 68,266 in December and the highest figure since February 2016.
A total of 47,155 loans for remortgage were approved, down from 47,560 the previous month. This took the total value of remortgaging for the month down by £100,000 to £8.1 billion, but still well above the previous six-month average of £7.6 billion.
Net mortgage lending rose by £3.4 billion in January, slightly up on the six-month average of £3.2 billion.
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “The Bank of England figures are quite encouraging, showing that lending didn’t dip over the Christmas period as we may have expected it to. The figures fit in with some of the other surveys we have seen showing that the housing market is proving more resilient than many have given it credit for.
“It may be another blow to the doom mongers but fairly steady progress for the housing market is good news. It shows that people are prepared to move house albeit with prices at a more realistic level and taking longer to make decisions.”
Jeremy Duncombe, director, Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “Today’s rise in mortgage approval figures highlights the resilience of the UK housing market. Despite an uncertain political outlook, it is great to see the industry adopting a ‘keep calm and carry on’ approach as the mortgage industry continues to serve the needs of remortgagers and buyers alike.
“With the Bank of England rate at 0.25%, borrowers have a perfect opportunity to take control and find the best deal for them. By reviewing their existing mortgage deal, borrowers have the potential to save themselves a significant sum of money – Legal & General figures suggests the average saving from remortgaging could be as much £2000, which is the equivalent of a 7.2% jump in salary for the average earner.”
