The number of loan approvals for homebuyers in the UK dropped to 59,023 in December from 60,045 in November last year, but remained high compared to the 55,004 loans for the last six months, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England.
Remortgaging approval has also increased by 27,276 compared with November’s figure, but this remained below the previous six-month average. The number of loans approved to be used for other purposes declined to 26,666 compared to the figure in both November and the previous six-month average.
Nigel Lewis, a property expert at FindaProperty.com commented on the Bank of England’s latest lending figure. She said, "It’s not the end of the world that these figures are down. The numbers relate to loan approvals for transactions that can take another six weeks to complete.”
She added that "the figures for November were strong because buyers had their loans approved in time for their deals to be completed before the end of the stamp duty holiday”.
"Borrowers knew that a loan approved in December would be too late to benefit from the tax holiday, so they put their plans on ice, enjoyed Christmas and will now be reassessing their situation."