Mortgage approvals grow despite Brexit uncertainty
The number of mortgages approved by banks grew last month despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
In total, 85,931 mortgages were approved by the main high street banks in August and mortgage approvals for home purchases were 3.2 per cent higher than the previous year as the 31 October Brexit deadline approaches.
Read more: First-time buyer demand boosts July mortgage figures
Remortgage approvals were 0.1 per cent higher and approvals for other secured borrowing were 0.4 per cent lower than August last year, according to the latest household finance update by UK Finance.
Gross mortgage lending slumped 3.2 per cent to £24bn in August, the research found.
Mike Scott, chief property analyst at Yopa, said: “This suggests that housing market activity has now completely recovered from the slowdown around the first Brexit deadline in March.
“A new slowdown may soon begin, as the October deadline draws closer and the political uncertainty seems no closer to resolution, but it is likely that the market will again recover quickly once the short-term outlook is clearer.”
“The market has backed off from the decade high it registered for approvals a month earlier but that shouldn’t detract from what has recently been a story of strength in the face of adversity,” Andrews Property Group head of financial services Sam Harhat said.
Credit card spending totalled £11bn in August, an increase of one per cent on the previous year. Repayments are in line with spending, indicating that consumers are managing their finances effectively.
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Personal borrowing through loans was 4.5 per cent higher than August last year and overdraft borrowing increased 1.2 per cent.
Personal deposits grew by 1.4 per cent in the year to August.