The Bank of England has reported that number of mortgages approved during May fell to the lowest level for almost a year.
61,707 mortgages were approved in May, down from 62,806 in April. This represented the lowest monthly total since June 2013.
Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, said: “A sense of calm is beginning to pervade the market, as the zest in the mortgage market begins to cool down. MMR has temporarily put the buffers on lending, as banks adjust to lengthier advisory processes and stricter stress-testing rules.
“Monthly house purchase approvals have fallen a fifth since the beginning of the year. MMR is forcing forward thinking among borrowers and banks alike, testing finances against the effects of a base rate rise. A sense of reality is starting to set into the market, as the first signs of cooling property prices are beginning to emerge.
“The new rules restricting the proportion of high LTV loans will prevent the number of ‘highly geared’ households becoming unsustainable. But it is fundamental that caps on small deposit lending are accompanied by greater house-building, or first-time buyers may start to run out of options. The Bank of Mum and Dad is drying up. Wages are only slowly recovering. And savings rates are still rock bottom.
“High LTV loans are a way of keeping the property market accessible to borrowers striving to save for a deposit, who haven’t benefited from capital gains. Capping high LTV lending may leave many borrowers with few options to get onto the ladder. More must be done to stimulate wage rises and upscale property development to give first-time buyers finances a chance to catch up with property prices – without solely resulting to high LTV lending.”