LONDON (Reuters) – British lenders approved more mortgages than expected in January and net mortgage lending increased at the strongest pace since September 2022, according to Bank of England data on Monday.
Lenders approved 66,189 mortgage for house purchases in the first month of the year, higher than 65,650 forecast in a Reuters poll of economists though down slightly from December’s 65,505.
The BoE said net mortgage lending rose to 4.207 billion pounds ($5.31 billion) in January from 3.343 billion in December, the highest since September 2022 and well above economists’ expectations for 3.55 billion pounds of new lending.
The end this month of a temporary reduction in stamp duty land tax for first-time home buyers and for buyers of less expensive houses is likely to have boosted activity.
“The mortgage market remained busy in January, largely due to first-time buyers squeezing deals through ahead of the changes to stamp duty and needs-based buyers that had put off acting during the volatility of 2024,” Simon Gammon, managing partner at Knight Frank Finance, said.
Annual consumer credit growth slowed to 6.4% in January from 6.5% in December, the lowest since May 2022.
($1 = 0.7928 pounds)
(Writing by Suban Abdulla; editing by David Milliken)
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