Mortgage borrowing falls by 36%

The number of mortgages approved by UK lenders has fallen to its lowest since June 2020, with 65,974 mortgages approved in April. This was down from 69,531 in March and 73,220 in January. The figures from the Bank of England also show that net mortgage borrowing dropped to £4.1bn last month from £6.4bn in March. Mortgage approvals for house purchases also fell, from 69,500 to 66,000. The average rate for a new mortgage rose to 1.82% in April, up from 1.5% in December after the Bank of England raised interest rates four times over the period to reach a 13-year high of 1%. Martin Beck, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said the figures showed slowing demand, adding that he expects housing market activity to continue to cool through 2022, with price growth “decelerating.”

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