Mortgage Approvals on the Rise

The Bank of England’s latest Trends in Lending Report reveals 80% of mortgage applications are being approved, demonstrating a 10% increase from 70% in January.

The report also showed the number of high loan-to-value mortgages has remained stagnant despite slight increases in May and June.

Covering lending data from Barclays, HSBS, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, Santander, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Bank reports, some lenders have acknowledged their inclination to lend at higher LTVs has not increased.

Other highlights include:

• The net mortgage lending figure fell from £1.9bn in June to £1.5bn in July
• The gross mortgage lending increased from £9bn to £9.5bn
• The volume of mortgage redemptions increased
• House purchase advances were £5.2bn while remortgage lending was less at £3.3bn

Money Solutions quotes David Brown, commercial director at LSL Property Services, saying, "Lenders must continue to favour homebuyers rather than existing homeowners and the extension of the quantitative easing programme by the Bank of England should give them the tools to do so."