Mortgages at nine-month high

Mortgage loans hit a nine-month high in March, industry data from the UK Finance showed. High Street banks approved 39,980 mortgages in the month, up 6% on a year ago and 2% ahead of the previous month. The figures also show that remortgage approvals were 11.1% higher and approvals for other secured borrowing were 1.7% up year-on-year. Gross mortgage lending in March was £20bn, 0.5% lower than the same month in 2018. “It may well be that housing market activity has gained some support from recent improved consumer purchasing power and robust employment growth,” commented the EY Item Club’s Howard Archer.

The I (26/04/2019)   Evening Standard (26/04/2019)