Mortgage lending soars and breaks Bank of England records

Mortgage lending soars and breaks Bank of England records

Mortgage lending has skyrocketed to the point of being the strongest since Bank of England records began.

With the Government’s 95% mortgage scheme coupled with stamp duty land tax holiday, mortgage lending is soaring and has shown the biggest net increase on record according to the Bank of England (BoE) – and mortgage borrowing in March rose by a net £11.8 billion pounds, the highest figure recorded in history by BoE which has data going back to April 1993.

Lenders approved 82,735 mortgages in March – some 5,000 fewer than in February – but the March 2021 figure was 45 per cent up on March 2020.

Furthermore, one in five first time buyers have been able to get a mortgage on the first attempt over the past 15 months – a huge change from nearly half that were able to pre-Covid-19. it has also been reported that 38 per cent of first time buyers were rejected for a mortgage once, whereas 43 per cent say they were rejected for a mortgage more than once. Whereas, prior to the pandemic some 36 per cent reported being rejected once and only 17 per cent said they had been rejected more than once – according to Aldermore Bank findings.

HSBC UK is refreshing it’s mortgage range, with rate cuts across all LTVs, the bank announced recently.

With rates being cut by up to 0.30%, HSBC UK is making it cheaper to get onto or move up the property ladder. This move comes as HSBC UK recorded March as its busiest ever month for mortgage completions.

Michelle Andrews, HSBC UK’s Head of Buying A Home, said:

“The Government’s Stamp Duty relief scheme gave a welcome boost to the mortgage and property markets and the resilience of homebuyers has really shone through. It has been fabulous to see all parties come together again to make great things happen.

“We completed more mortgages in March than any month in the 40+ years we have offered home loans, including those for over 3,000 first time buyers, have increased the number of brokers who have access to our award-winning mortgage by a third, adding over 100 broker firms to our panel and introduced 95% LTV mortgages. It has been an incredibly busy time for us, but while we have seen all of this with lockdown measures still in place, and I am extremely proud of my teams who are delivering customer focused service on a daily basis.”

Michelle Andrews continued:

“Not only does this all give me great hope for HSBC UK providing a greater share of mortgages with excellent levels of service, it gives me great hope and excitement for the mortgage and housing markets post-lockdown.”

A Skipton Building Society spokesperson commented on first time buyers. They said:

“Obtaining approval for that first mortgage has always been a challenge for first time buyers and there’s no doubt that the pandemic has made it even harder. Over the last 15 months, first time buyers have been hit by severe restrictions to high LTV lending, tightening affordability and lending criteria, as well as intense competition for residential property – driving up house prices and therefore the deposit size required for a mortgage.

“As a building society, enabling homeownership is our fundamental founding purpose. That’s why we were one of the first lenders to re-instate 95% lending to first time buyers back in March and why we continue to explore new and innovate means to support aspirational homeowners. In April, 35% of our mortgage applications were made by first time buyers – this compares to just 6% in last in the height of the first lockdown. In fact, in the first 4 months of this year applications by first time buyers at Skipton are up 103% compared to 2020 – a definite sign enduring appeal of owning your own home.”

 

Toni Ryder-McMullin

Toni is the Media Officer for Today’s Conveyancer, Today’s Wills & Probate and Today's Family Lawyer. I worked for a law firm for 16 years, during my time at the firm I worked as a company commercial legal secretary for 7 years but changed careers and moved into marketing for the remaining 9 years – where I covered all aspects of marketing. While in the marketing role, I achieved a CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing and CAM Diploma in Digital Marketing.

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