"Considering the swell of political uncertainty over the past few months, it’s hardly a surprise to see a further slowdown in mortgage lending."
The number of mortgages for home purchase approved by the main high street banks was 2.9% higher than in June 2018.
However remortgage approvals were 1.4% lower and approvals for other secured borrowing were 5.3% lower.
John Goodall, CEO of Landbay, commented: “Considering the swell of political uncertainty over the past few months, it’s hardly a surprise to see a further slowdown in mortgage lending. Would-be buyers will be forgiven for pressing pause on any decision without more clarity over the UK’s future direction.
“However with Boris now in the hotseat, and promising Brexit by October, many may well consider making their property move between now and then to avoid any potential no-deal disruption. The truth is that we are in a buyers-market amid subdued house prices, decent wage growth and lenders with a genuine appetite to lend. Add to the mix low-interest rate conditions alongside stable inflation and it’s not hard to see why things could be looking up in the near term.”
Gareth Lewis, commercial director of MT Finance, added: "The high street banks report an uplift in home purchase approvals but this may be because they’ve made these deals more attractive to attract more business on the back of a drop off in remortgaging activity.
"Now we have one part of the political frustration out of the way, and know who is the new prime minister, we may find that there are benefits when it comes to tax and stamp duty. We don’t know how long it will take Boris Johnson to get round to looking at that - let’s face it, there are plenty of other matters to deal with first - but there may be measures afoot to stimulate the property market at some point."
