The bank’s latest Money and Credit statistics show that in June there were 64,684 approvals for loans secured on dwellings. This was down by almost 2,000 on the six-month average of 66,656 and almost 4,000 less than in January.
While the number of approvals has slipped, net secured lending was up from £3.9bn in May to £4.1bn in June. The value of outstanding loans on dwellings was up from £1,339bn in May to £1,344bn in June.
The Bank of England said approvals for remortgages had increased and 44,548 such loans were approved in June, up from 43,145 in May and 40,508 in April.
Greater expectations
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors residential chairman, said: “Although house purchase approvals were little changed in June, we certainly would have expected them to be higher than in January, reflecting traditional spring housing market activity.
“However, bearing in mind many people were probably more concerned with the outcome of the election, numbers could have been much lower and on the high street we are certainly not expecting the market to fall off a cliff anytime soon.”
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, added: “Net secured lending ticked up a little in June although lender appetite is far stronger than these figures suggest. With little upward pressure on interest rates, lenders continue to reduce their fixed-rate mortgages.”
He added: “We expect to see plenty of action on the remortgaging front as borrowers move to take advantage of some of the cheapest rates ever.”
