Mortgage lending below boom level, according to CML
13/12/2013
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said that mortgage lending was higher than expected in 2013, but is not yet at the level witnessed in the housing boom.
Lending did dip slightly month-on-month in November, but was still up by a sizable 30% when compared to the same month a year ago. The gross lending figure for mortgages was £17bn in November, down from £17.6bn in October.
Figures will have been helped by the early launch of the Help-to-Buy scheme, which was originally scheduled to be rolled out in January 2014, but was made available from the start of October, in a surprise move from the Government.
Despite all of this growth in mortgage lending so far this year, and an overall more positive outlook for the housing market, the CML was keen to stress that we are still a long way off the peak lending figures from 2007.
Chief economist, Bob Pannell, said: “Gross lending for 2013 looks set to reach £170bn – higher than the £156bn we originally forecast, but still a far cry from the £363bn experienced at the height of the lending boom in 2007”
Other mortgage lenders and commentators share this view, with Jonathan Harris, director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris, saying: “Lenders are far more cautious than they were back then (in 2007). Underwriting is tighter and borrowers are having to jump through many more hoops before they can secure funding”.
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