The number of mortgage transactions in the Capital fell 5% to 81,600 worth £24.5bn, but this is still a 1% value increase on 2014. However, remortgage lending rose 14% by volume to 48,600 loans, worth £13.7bn, which is also a 25% rise by value on 2014.
First-time buyer loan numbers dropped 6% over the year, to 45,600 worth £11.6bn.
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: “House purchase lending in London fell in 2015 due mainly to a slow start: later months of the year saw activity pick up again. Persisting supply and affordability issues, alongside the introduction of the Help to Buy London scheme, means there will be some uncertainty around how the market will perform going into 2016.
“By contrast, remortgage activity, which has been consistently flat for the past few years, appears to be on an upward trend. Competitive mortgage rates appear to have sparked this activity and we have not seen quarterly volumes at this level since 2009.”
Wales
Meanwhile in Wales, homeowner house purchase lending totalled 27,300 loans worth £3.4bn, up 4% by volume and 10% by value compared to 2014. The data revealed lending in Wales for house purchase and remortgage increased in the fourth quarter 2015, both on the third quarter and compared to the same period in 2014. In the fourth quarter, both homeowner and home mover loans increased 20% year-on-year and first-time buyer loans rose 16% by volume and 21% by value.
Julie-Ann Haines, CML chair for Wales, said: “The continued growth in all lending types meant that more people bought homes in Wales in 2015 than any other year since 2007, and it is welcome to see both first-time buyers and home movers driving this growth. With affordability being better in Wales than the UK overall, and demand-led government schemes like Help to Buy Cymru proving popular, we’d expect this upward trend to continue in 2016.”
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, remortgaging was again the biggest story and in this geographic area offsetting a shallow upturn in the housing market in general. Remortgage lending totalled 6,800 loans, up 45% on 2014. The value of these loans increased 57% year-on-year to £690m.
Derek Wilson, CML chair for Northern Ireland, said: “Remortgage activity, which has been static for a number of years, has finally seen a resurgence in 2015, albeit from a low base after activity declined greatly post-recession. It’s now at its highest quarterly volume since 2011.”
“Northern Ireland home lending this quarter rose to its highest level since mid-2007 and it is welcome to see more first-time buyers purchasing their first home in this period than any other quarter since 2006,” he added.
Scotland
Meanwhile in Scotland, house purchase lending rose 17% year-on-year to the end of the fourth quarter.
Linda Docherty, CML chair for Scotland, said: “The sustained year-on-year growth in house purchase lending seen since 2012 continued in Scotland this quarter. This meant more first-time buyers and home movers in 2015 took out a loan to purchase a home than in any year since 2008. With an economic climate of low interest rates and competitive mortgage deals, we would expect this growth in the Scottish market to continue into 2016.”
Overall in 2015, annual home-owner house purchase lending in Scotland totalled 64,800 loans, up 9% on 2014. This came to £8.5bn, again, up 14%. Remortgage lending came to £3.1bn, up 18% on 2014. This totalled 26,200 loans, up 12% on the previous year.
