Mortgage lending up 10pc on last year says CML
Year on year gross mortgage lending was up for the sixth month in a row according to latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
In spite of a 14% decline in lending compared to December figures, lending totalled £10.5billion, 10% higher than January 2011 when gross lending reached £9.5billion.
CML chief economist Bob Pannell said:
“Should inflationary pressures continue to fall back, the squeeze on household finances should ease progressively and help support stronger economic recovery going into the second half of the year. This can only be good news for the housing market further down the track.”
The continuing trend of strong year on year lending figures may be being carried along by an increase in the number of first time buyers seeking to take advantage of the FTB stamp duty concession which is due to end in March. Pannel comments:
“Housing and mortgage market sentiment has improved a little over recent weeks.
“The increase in lending compared to January last year helps support our view that housing and mortgage market activity may be boosted by first-time buyers seeking to complete deals before the stamp duty concession ends in March.”
“The recent improvement in housing and mortgage market sentiment is welcome. But we should be careful not to overstate its significance, given the very low levels of activity we are starting from and the protracted and difficult economic re-balancing that the UK and other countries have embarked upon.”
Meanwhile those in the rental sector have seen a further increase in the cost renting a home according to recent survey from LSL Property Services. The average rent rose by 0.1% on December figures, to £712 per month.
Director of LSL David Newnes said:
“The rental market burst back into life unseasonably early in January, with tenants on the move trying to take advantage of what is usually a quieter period for the rental market.
“The depth of the underlying demand sustained a higher level of competition for rental property during the Christmas period, preventing more severe falls in rents than we’d normally see during the period.”
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Tags: mortgage lending, mortgages
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