UK house prices: Buy-to-let lending drove the mortgage boom in August, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders
Mortgage lending ticked up in August compared with the same month last year, with buy-to-let lending posting a rapid increase.
There was a whopping 37.9 per cent jump in buy-to-let lending on the year, with 22,200 mortgages approved. The amount of money lent out was up 47.8 per cent to £2.3bn, according to the figures released this morning by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
The biggest driver within the buy-to-let mortgage market was in remortgaging, with the number of loans up 51.3 per cent while the number of properties bought was up 26.5 per cent.
In total, lenders granted 62,300 mortgages in August, up 1.45 per cent last year and rise in value of 6.6 per cent to £11.3bn.
The number of loans given to first-time buyers was only up 1.9 per cent and to home movers was 1.2 per cent.
“Seasonal factors pushed all categories of lending lower in August compared to July. However, the mortgage market continues to see year-on-year growth, and we expect this to continue over the coming months,” said CML chief economist Bob Pannell.