Peter Williams is executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association
Today’s figures suggest that March was a month of steady progress – not only with significantly more loans to first time buyers and homemovers, but also a monthly increase in overall house purchase and remortgage lending.
To an extent it is no more than we would expect at this time of year, but the quarterly fall in house purchase volumes suggests that consistent growth is yet to emerge. However the figures indicate that first-time buyers can still find their way to a favourable deal without the added incentive of the Stamp Duty holiday.
The figures also show lenders pre-empting Help To Buy by advancing more 90%+ loans to first-time buyers compared with last year. Even without the government acting as a guarantor, the market has moved to assist first-time buyers with smaller deposits.
Understanding the range of deals and schemes now available for home buyers is a significant task, and advice from intermediaries is increasingly important for anyone searching out the most appropriate loan in the current market.
