Remortgage lending rose 36% year-on-year from £3.6bn to £4.9bn while transactions increased 24% from 24,000 to 29,300. First-time buyer gross lending rose 14% year-on-year to £4.2bn in November 2015 while transactions reached 27,900; a 10% increase on the previous year.
The growth in the number of loans advanced to home movers lagged behind first-time buyer volumes. Home mover transactions grew by 9% in November 2015 while lending rose 9% to £6.5bn – a 20% year-on-year increase.
Month-on-month, the volume and value of each category of residential lending dropped. First-time buyer lending suffered a 9% fall while loan numbers dropped by 8%.
Lending to existing borrowers moving house declined by 10% with transactions suffering the same percentage decrease.
Remortgage activity followed the trend with gross remortgage lending down 14% and application numbers 9% lower than the previous month.
Paul Smee, director-general of the CML, said the decline in mortgage lending was typical for the start of the winter months but it forecasts gross lending will continue a slow but steady upward climb over the next two years.
Total gross buy-to-let lending decreased in November compared to October from £3.8bn to £3.5bn but rose by 46% year-on-year from £2.4bn. Transaction numbers rose by 35% year-on-year from 17,300 to 23,300 year-on-year. Buy-to-let remortgaging contined to be the driver of the yearly increases in this sector. The value of remortage lending rose year-on-year by 62% from £1.3bn to £2.1bn while the number of advances climbed 51% from 8,700 to 13,100.
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “Landlords may be disgruntled by the double whammy of tax changes and the impending hike on Stamp Duty, but they can’t complain about some of the cheapest buy-to-let rates ever.
“Many landlords are taking advantage of low rates and the removal of tax breaks with remortgaging accounting for the majority of activity in the sector. However, lenders are imposing tighter criteria on buy-to-let mortgages when it comes to stress-testing and others are expected to follow making it harder to qualify for higher loan-to-value mortgages, particularly in the south where yields are low.”
