This is 4% higher than February’s gross lending total and 33% higher than March last year (£11.6 billion).
Gross mortgage lending for the first quarter of this year was therefore an estimated £46.3 billion. This represents a 10% decrease from the last three months of 2013, but a 37% increase on the first quarter of 2013 (£33.8 billion).
CML chief economist Bob Pannell observes:
"Alongside benign developments in the wider UK economy and the labour market, housing market sentiment continues to strengthen.
"There are currently no signs of significant market disruption, arising from the imminent application of new lending rules associated with the Mortgage Market Review. While some mortgage lending indicators have eased back gently, this is from the very high levels of recent months.
"The Financial Policy Committee continues to be vigilant to housing market developments, and to remind the market of its ability to act before problems to financial stability set in."
Henry Woodcock, Principle Mortgage Consultant, IRESS, comments:
“The mortgage market has been motoring in the early part of the year. New buyers have moved to take advantage of low rates, decent mortgage availability and the prospect of seeing their property gain value. With MMR coming into force in just over a week, we don’t expect the market to grind to a halt by any means, but it is unlikely to hit the same speed for the remainder of the Spring.
"The introduction of regulation will likely create a bottle neck in the short-term as the time taken to secure a mortgage lengthens and buyers and lenders alike come to terms with more stringent affordability testing. Lenders have trained their staff and put in place new systems and changed processes to be compliant, but we will only really see the full effects on the mortgage market after April 26th.”
Simon Crone, Vice-President Mortgage Insurance Europe at Genworth, said:
“Today’s figures reveal how far the mortgage market has come from this time last year however the traditional Spring bounce in lending may not occur in 2014 due to a combination of factors most notably the Mortgage Market Review rules that come into force on the 26th April.
“It will be intriguing to see the lending figures for the next few months as it is highly likely lenders will pull back on their lending levels during the next quarter as they seek to ensure their compliance with the new regulations plus the tighter affordability rules mean that a number of borrowers will not be able to access finance as they would have pre-MMR.
“For first-time buyers looking for mortgages in the next few months the market may not be accommodating as it was at the start of the year. Even with the growing availability of 90/95% LTV mortgages first-timers still have considerable issues to overcome in terms of saving for a deposit and meeting these new criteria conditions from lenders.
“Recent research from Genworth revealed that British households believe the single biggest barrier to home ownership remains their ability to save enough for a deposit. Therefore it is absolutely vital that the supply of low-deposit mortgages continues not just through the period of the Government’s Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme – which is due to finish at the end of 2016 – but far beyond this. The need for high LTV mortgages is not a short-term problem and we need to ensure the market is in the best possible place in order to continue supplying these products both now and well into the future.”
Andy Knee, Chief Executive of LMS, added:
“Mortgage lending has maintained its momentum, growing by 37% year on year with the market hitting the £46 billion mark in the first few months of this year. However, the new MMR regulations coming into play later this month may put the brakes on and curtail lending. New buyers are likely to feel the effects the most, with stringent new checks and rigorous measures meaning even the most careful savers could face delays in stepping on to the property ladder.
“The continued growth in house prices across the country has placed the market further under the spotlight and the Bank of England is now under increasing pressure to make some important changes to put a lid on prices, which means we may see a base rate rise sooner rather than later – although this is still most likely to be next year. This will have significant implications for homeowners, who will see their mortgage payments go up as a result. In light of this we advise that borrowers take full advantage of the plethora of deals and competitive rates currently on offer, before any major changes come to fruition.”
