House purchase lending continues to grow in November, CML reveals
House purchasing lending in the UK rose 5% to £11bn in November from a month ago as prices continued to rise, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders on Tuesday.
Compared to the same month a year ago, borrowing rose 2% in November, totalling 60,800 loans.
First-time buyers borrowed £4.7bn, up 4% on the month and 9% on the year. It represented 30,700 loans, marking a 6% month-on-month increase but a 6% fall year-on-year as demand continued to outstrip supply and push house prices higher.
Homemovers borrowed £6.3bn, a 7% increase on October but a 5% drop on the previous year. It totalled 30,700 loans, up 6% on the month but down 6% on the prior year.
Remortgaging fell 5% compared to a month ago but was 14% higher on the year at £5.8bn. Loans totalled 34,700, unchanged month-on-month and up 13% year-on-year. There were 34,700 remortgage loans, unchanged month-on-month but up 13% compared to a year ago.
Buy-to-let lending saw its strongest monthly lending level since the increase in stamp duty charges in April, as a jump in remortgaging offset flat house purchase loans.
Buy-to-let investors borrowed £3.2bn in total for house purchases and remortaging, up 10% month-on-month but down 9% year-on-year. It was a total 20,700 loans, representing a 13% rise compared to October and a 10% decline compared to November 2015.
Despite the monthly growth, CML said it expects buy-to-let lending data for 2016 and 2017 to be lower than its 2015 peak as further tax changes take effect.
Paul Smee, director general of CML, said: “November lending reflected stable market conditions. Overall, 2016 did not match recent years in terms of house purchase lending growth, but lending remained resilient through regulatory and political change and aspirations for home-ownership remain strong in the UK.”
He added: “Our forecasts for 2017 may be less bullish than a year ago, as economic uncertainty weighs on the market, but we still predict 1.2m transactions and a slight increase in gross lending to £248bn.”