This is a slight 4% rise on last month, and 14% higher than a year ago, when lending levels stood at £16bn in May 2015. Gross mortgage lending is now at its highest level of lending in the month of May since 2008, when it reached £23.7bn.
But CML senior economist Mohammad Jamei warned of uncertainty ahead, following last week’s EU Referendum result.
“Looking ahead, there is likely to be considerable uncertainty as a result of the EU referendum decision,” he said. “We expect this to affect sentiment and reduce activity below levels that would otherwise be expected in the near term, as both buyers and sellers adopt a wait-and-see attitude until the dust begins to settle.
“Market fundamentals underpinning house prices still look sound, and we do not expect significant house price falls, especially given the current supply demand imbalance.”
