Research shows May brought rise in approvals

July 8, 2023 by Brendan O'Neill

Surveys and Statistics

The latest figures from the Bank of England (BoE) show that there was rise in the net number of residential mortgage approvals during May, in comparison to the month before.

The Money and Credit figures published by the BoE reveal that the net number of approvals for residential loans in May was 50,500. By comparison, the figure for April was 49,000, with this marking an encouraging development for the industry at a time of high inflation and living costs. The number of remortgage approvals with different lenders also rose during the month to 33,600, compared with 32,500 the month before.

When it comes to mortgage debt, the net figure that was repaid during May was £0.1 billion, which is a drop compared to the figure for April. It must be pointed out, though, that the £1.5 billion net repayment for that month was the highest it has been for a single month, if the Covid-19 crisis period is excluded.

Advisors with the CeMAP qualification will be hoping that rate rise does not do too much damage to the recovery of the market.

May also brought rises in both gross lending and repayments. The former went up to £18.7 billion compared with £16.4 billion during April. The latter rose to £18.9 billion compared with £18.6 billion the month before, marking the first rise in four months.

Bluestone Mortgages CEO Steve Seal said that, although the figures showed an approvals increase, they cover the period before the 0.5% rise in interest rates imposed by the bank.