Gross mortgage lending reached a new record for the month of July, totalling £34.4 billion, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Although this is down by 1% on the £34,847 of lending achieved in June, it is 13% higher than the £30.6 billion lent in the same month last year.
Mortgage lending remains robust despite the five interest rate rises since last August - although the full impact of higher rates has not yet been seen. Lending is currently being fuelled by a large number of people re-mortgaging to better deals in case rates go any higher.
As we move into the autumn the cumulative effects of these rate rises will become more pronounced and this is expected to feed through to lower levels of mortgage lending as the year progresses. CML still believes, however, that we are on target to reach a record £360 billion of mortgage lending this year.
