According to recent data released from UK Finance, remortgage approvals were 20.3 per cent lower than the same month in 2017.
There were 30,736 remortgages approved in November 2018, a drop of 2,769 from the month previous, and 7,838 less than November 2017.
The number of mortgages that were approved by leading high street banks in November 2018 was 10.6 per cent lower compared with statistics twelve months ago – a figure thought to be impacted by the drop in remortgages – approvals for house purchase fell 1.2 per cent, and approvals for other secured borrowing were 12.2 per cent down.
In the run-up to the festive period, gross mortgage lending across the full market has also fallen 2% year-on-year to £23.1 billion.
Personal deposits have grown by 0.7 per cent from November 2017. Deposits held in instant access accounts jumped 3.1 per cent in twelve months (from £630,470 million to £650,041 million).
Cash deposits held in Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) in high street banks has fallen nearly £600,000 from the previous recorded month – £152,329 million in October 2018 to £151,730 million in November 2018 – and down more than £6 million from October 2017’s figure of £157,779 million.
Managing Director of personal finance at UK Finance, Eric Leenders, commented:
“Overall mortgage borrowing across the residential property market remains stable and the trend in households’ cash savings remains steady.
However remortgaging activity has softened, following a period of strong growth driven by fixed rate loans reaching maturity and anticipation of August’s base rate rise.”
For bespoke advice about mortgages and how to remortgage, get in touch with one of our expert mortgage advisers today via the online contact form.