There was a 4% increase in purchase lending, whist remortgage activity was up by 9%. Leading the way in terms of actual lending was product transfer business which increased by 35% on Q1 2018, and now represents one in five cases completed this year.
HL Partnership (HLP) and Mortgage Support Network(MSN) saw a 19.7% uplift in mortgage lending in Q1 this year compared to the same period last year.
There was a 4% increase in purchase lending, whist remortgage activity was up by 9%. Leading the way in terms of actual lending was product transfer business which increased by 35% on Q1 2018, and now represents one in five cases completed this year.
Shaun Almond, managing director of HLP, said:“These numbers reflect the hard work being done by our members to meet their customers’ borrowing objectives in what is currently an uncertain marketplace.
“As a network, we are always looking for ways to support brokers and by constantly developing our technology platform, we ensure we stay in touch with customers in a market moving ever closer towards a digital revolution.
“This strong set of numbers demonstrates that our members have the tools in place to grow their businesses by staying in touch with customers.
“By having the right choice of lenders, they can meet most borrower needs, whether their customer is a homeowner, landlord or those looking to release equity from their property in later life.”
New buy-to-let lending was up by 6% for the networks, whilst the remortgage market for landlords has increased by 19%.
These results come on the back of a 21.9% increase to almost £6bn for the two networks in 2018.
Activity suggests completions in the first quarter will be in the region of £1.7bn and, based on prevailing market conditions, HLP and MSN are on target to deliver over £7bn in 2019.
