Good news as mortgage approvals have rebounded since August.
The Bank of England has released data showing that net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to over 40,000 in February, up from 39,000 in January. This is the first monthly increase since August 2022.
Approvals for remortgaging, which only capture approvals with a different lender, increased to 28,000, 4,000 more than in January.
Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals and gross lending figures decreased substantially, with the most significant fall being in net borrowing at £ 1.3 billion in February.
With quotes taken from Today’s Conveyancer, CEO of Octane Capital, Jonathan Samuels, said that the increase suggested green shoots of buyer demand starting to grow again, and the expectation is to see continued growth over the coming months.
CEO and Founder of easyMoney, Jason Ferrando, said today’s uplift in mortgage approvals shows that the spring surge in market activity is underway. While the volume of approved mortgages is unlikely to return to the highs of last year, the increase in buyer activity bodes well for the property market.
This follows a call for the Chancellor to review homebuyer assistance schemes to encourage further growth by allowing alternative funding types to receive a cut in SDLT.