Mortgage approval rates hit four-year high

March 6, 2020 by Brendan O'Neill

Property Market

New data the Bank of England has released reveals that the number of mortgage approvals for January this year was the highest in the UK in four years.

The total number of mortgage loans to be signed off by lenders during January was 70,900, while the total for December last year was 67,930. This represents an increase of 4.4% and is the highest number of approvals within the UK mortgage sector since February 2016.

Furthermore, January also saw a rise in the number of remortgages that were approved, with 52,110 of these getting the nod over the course of the month. In December, the total was 50,150, meaning January saw a rise of 3.9%.

Not all of the news for the UK mortgage sector was quite as positive though, as the stats also showed a decline in the net figure for mortgage borrowing. In January, this was £4 billion, which is a drop of more than 9% in comparison to the £4.4 billion December total. It also means the figure for January dropped below the £4.3 billion average for the last six months.

Andrew Montlake from Coreco stated that the rise in mortgage approvals during January had been down to the boost created by the decisive election result and an end to the stagnation that Brexit uncertainty was causing. He added that trade talks could affect things in the upcoming year though.

Those gaining a CeMAP mortgage advisor qualification will be delighted to see the sector starting to grow again.