23
Feb
Mortgage loans fall in January
The number of mortgages that the UK's biggest banks agreed with
home buyers "fell sharply" in January, the British Bankers'
Association (BBA) has said.
The BBA said many buyers had borrowed in December to beat the
re-introduction of a lower stamp duty threshold.
The BBA's members approved 35,000 new mortgages to home buyers last
month, down from 46,000 in December.
Total mortgage lending fell to just £8bn in January, the
lowest monthly amount for eight and a half years.
The BBA also blamed the very cold weather for deterring would-be
home buyers.
"It was no surprise to see the January mortgage figures falling
back from December, when transactions were being pushed through to
beat the end of stamp duty relief," said the BBA's statistics
director, David Dooks.
"There was a natural reaction in the January figures and the bad
weather further suppressed market activity," he added.
New year hangover
The BBA's figures echo those published last week by the Council of
Mortgage Lenders (CML).
The CML also said the rush to buy homes before the government's
temporary stamp duty holiday ended had prompted a big drop in
mortgage lending last month.
Melanie Bien, of Savills Private Finance, said: "There has been a
big hangover from the stamp duty holiday."
And she added: "The very poor weather conditions meant everything
ground to a halt."
But she said that the housing market was now about to enter a
busier time of the year.
New offers
With house prices recovering slightly over the past year, one of
the bigger building societies has launched a new range of mortgages
aimed at first-time buyers.
The Newcastle building society is offering loans requiring just 10%
deposits, with interest at 4.6% for its two-year tracker mortgage
and 5.95% for its two-year fixed rate deal.
However, the Newcastle warned that the funds available for these
deals were limited.
Ray Boulger, of the mortgage lenders John Charcol, said: "Both
deals are certainly pretty competitive