UK Finance: Mortgage approvals on the rise

In November mortgage approvals for home purchases by the main high street banks increased.

UK Finance: Mortgage approvals on the rise

Mortgage approvals rose while gross mortgage lending dropped in November, the UK Finance Household Finance Update has revealed.

Mortgage approvals for home purchases by the main high street banks in November were 6.8% higher whilst remortgage approvals were 12.7% higher.

Gross mortgage lending across the residential market in November was £23.1bn, 3.3% lower than in the same month in 2018.

David Hollingworth, associate director of communications at L&C Mortgages, said: “I suppose it’s positive the approvals were quite a bit higher.

“I just think we had some volatility last year and it’s encouraging to see approvals by the banks up quite a bit, with remortgaging even more so which is what you’d expect with the focus on remortgages with political uncertainty.

“This is a more positive story coming into the New Year.”