Mortgages: Home-buying loans surge

Mortgage lending soared by nearly a quarter to £11.5bn last month as the spring buying season got off to a good start.

But the estimated rise in lending failed to offset a dire January, with loans advanced during the first three months of the year slumping to the lowest quarterly level for 10 years, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said yesterday.

While gross mortgage lending in March was 24 per cent higher than in February and three per cent up year on year, lending in the first quarter reached 29.5bn – down by nearly a quarter on the previous three months.

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The council said underlying levels of mortgage lending and housing market activity remained stable, but were subdued when the seasonal spring uplift was stripped out.

It predicted that market conditions were likely to improve later in the year.

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