Home Owner Loans Rise 10 Per Cent
The number of home owner loans being taken out across the UK is continuing to rise, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), with January this year seeing a 10 per cent increase in the value of new loans, compared with 12 months earlier.
Although the gross amount of new loans decreased to £10.5 billion in January, compared with £12.2 billion worth of loans in December, the CML said that this was a quite normal trend in the home owner loan market and that loan figures were still 10 per cent up on the same time last year.
Despite the drop of 16 per cent in the value of new loans between December and January, the CML figures have shown that the home owner loan market has recorded year on year growth for a total of six consecutive months now.
The trade body has said that the growth in new loan numbers is a positive sign for the housing and home owner loan markets, as more buyers are starting to regain some confidence in the market, which is being helped by reducing inflation and a wider choice of cheap loan deals.
Bob Pannell of the CML said “The increase in lending compared to January last year helps support our view that housing and mortgage market activity may be boosted by first time buyers seeking to complete loan deals before the stamp duty concession ends.”
“Should inflationary pressures continue to fall back, the squeeze on household finances should ease progressively and help support stronger economic recovery going into the second half of the year. This can only be good news for the housing and home owner loan markets further down the track.”
