Lending secured on dwellings rose by £1.1bn in April compared to March, figures from the Bank of England reveal.
The rate of growth was in line with the previous six-month average and both the three-month annualised and 12-month growth rates were broadly unchanged at 1.0 and 0.8% respectively.
Gross lending secured on dwellings was £11.5bn in April compared to the previous six-month average of £12.4bn. Repayments in April were £11.3bn compared to the previous six-month average of £11.5bn
The number of loan approvals for house purchase increased slightly in April from 51,067 in March to 51,823 but was lower than the previous six-month average of 53,016.
The 31,214 number of approvals for remortgaging also increased in April and was similar to the previous six-month average of 31,062.
The number of approvals for other purposes was broadly unchanged in April at 19,895 and was slightly lower than the previous six-month average.
Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said: “There were encouraging signs of resilience in April’s mortgage lending data. The number of new house purchase loans approved rose slightly from the previous month, where the expiry of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers expired in March hasn’t dented activity as much as expected.
“The building society sector was a key driving factor, accounting for a quarter of mortgage approvals in April, well above the sector’s 16% share of total outstanding mortgages.”
David Sansome, Managing Director at Sansome & George said: “These figures show that the mortgage market is still functioning although lending criteria remains tight, particularly for first time buyers and those with smaller amounts of equity.”
