Increase in mortgage lending expected

May 22, 2023 by Brendan O'Neill

Mortgage Advisors

A new forecast for 2023 is predicting that net mortgage lending volumes will go up by more than 1% this year, which marks an increase on the level of growth that was forecast earlier in the year.

Back in February, net mortgage lending was predicted to rise by 0.4% but the most recent forecast from EY has upgraded the figure to 1.2%. It is anticipated that banks will be prepared to increase the amount of lending they agree to as the economy in the UK manages to avoid falling into recession and the property market continues its gradual recovery.

These predictions have been made by a number of economists and they are also suggesting that total UK loans will go up by 1.2% between now and the end of the year. That would mark a £29 billion net rise and a big difference from the drop of 0.1% that was predicted during February.

Among the reasons that are being given for the brighter forecasts now are continued high employment, reductions in energy costs and inflation going down. All of these factors would bring about a 0.2% GDP increase instead of the contraction that had been expected.

EY’s managing partner for UK financial services, Anna Anthony, said that there was a way for the economy to go to fully recover following the events of recent years, but that things were looking a lot better than at the start of the year.

Those who have done CeMAP training courses will welcome an increase in mortgage lending this year.