Mortgage lending fall 'surprising'

Date:Monday 21st December 2009
Author: Max Freedman

The decline in mortgage lending by institutions between October and November of this year was surprising, according to one mortgage expert.

Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at John Charcol, said that although a fall in the lending figures between October and November did not come as a shock, it was not expected that the rate would fall by as much as ten per cent.

He added: "One would have expected, if anything, that [mortgage lending] would slightly increase in November and December as people aimed to complete before the end of the year."

In order to guarantee having a mortgage move completed by the end of the year, beating the return of stamp duty, borrowers needed to have been trying to get their offers accepted by the end of October.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders published the news that the number of loans given out had fallen by ten per cent and commented that, while a small drop is to be expected due to seasonal decline, the fall of ten per cent was larger than expected.