The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) said that 40,104 mortgages were approved in April, a drop of more than 3,500 from the 43,854 approved in March and down 6% from April 2015. Remortgage approvals were 16% higher than a year earlier.
However, gross mortgage borrowing reached £12bn in April, 12% higher than the same month last year and net mortgage borrowing was up 3% year-on-year.
Dr Rebecca Harding, BBA chief economic adviser, said: “As expected, growth in mortgage lending has fallen back sharply on last month proving that March’s results were just a Stamp Duty spike. Net mortgage borrowing is nevertheless 3% higher than a year ago.”
Personal deposits grew to 4.8% in April, while ISA deposits only grew by £3bn over the March and April investment period, compared with £6.2bn in the same period of 2015.
“Separately, the fact that personal deposits are growing while ISA deposits continue to disappoint suggest consumers are using easy-access savings while the outlook for the economy remains uncertain,” said Harding.
“The increase in real wage growth may start to have positive knock-on effects on long-term savings if it is sustained.”
