Royal wedding hits mortgage market

The number of mortgage approvals to buy homes fell by 6 per cent during the month to stand at 29,355, nearly a fifth lower than in April 2010, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). The reduction in the number of people remortgaging was even steeper, diving by 12 per cent compared with March to 20,844, the lowest level since January last year.

The group partly attributed the drop to the Easter and royal wedding bank holiday weekends in April, which distracted people from buying a home or remortgaging as they instead made the most of the extra time off work.

Net lending, which strips out redemptions and repayments, remain subdued at £1.3bn, as homeowners continued to focus on paying down their mortgage.

The figures were revealed as the National Audit Office warned the Government’s Mortgage Rescue Scheme, launched in January 2009 by the Department for Communities and Local Government, achieved fewer than half of the rescues expected.