Peter Williams is executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association
The 5% increase in gross mortgage lending reported today can be largely attributed to a rise in remortgage activity – with little change in relation to house purchase lending and home movers.
However, first-time buyers continue to dominate and are accounting for a growing proportion of the mortgage lending total.
Despite witnessing a 1% fall in the number of loans taken out by FTBs the typical amount borrowed has increased, meaning that the overall value of loans has remained at the same level as this time last year.
Despite the fact that the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme has not yet been introduced these figures show that lenders are already offering a helping hand to first time buyers with small deposits.
In fact, activity in the first four months of this year has been 11% stronger than in the same period of last year which itself was boosted by the ending of the stamp duty holiday.
The rise in remortgaging is beneficial to lenders and borrowers and adds to the momentum building in the market.
