Bank of England: Yes, there was a mortgage stampede in March
The final – and perhaps most definitive – proof that mortgage lending surged in March has been published by the Bank of England this morning, showing just how much tax changes distorted the property market.
After a string of industry reports said that investors and landlords rushed to snap up houses before the three per cent stamp duty surcharge on second-home purchases kicked in on 1 April – the final verdict from the Bank is in.
Both the number of transactions and the scale of money lent for mortgages in March is staggering.
A total of 160,000 mortgages were approved over the 31 days. That was a 40 per cent spike on February and a 47 per cent increase on March 2015.
In terms of cold hard cash, £27bn was handed handed over by lenders to go towards buying property – 35 per cent more than in February and 58 per cent more than a year ago.
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The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) suggested that the property market could be so warped by the tax changes that 10,000 fewer mortgages a month may be taken out over the rest of the year.
Although across the country, a survey from Your Move, out today, showed that the surge of investors did not squeeze out first time buyers, in the capital, there is evidence that in London the proportion of investors buying homes jumped by as much as 50 per cent.