Mortgage lending is showing signs of recovery after a decline according to the recent gross lending data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Their estimate for total gross lending for April is £16 billion. This amounts to a 1% decrease from March and a 4% fall from the £16.7 billion mortgage lending recorded for April 2014.

The decline is expected to reverse as there are signs of growing demand in the housing market which will flow over to higher demand in mortgage lending. Homeowners are expected to show up for the cheap remortgage deals currently being offered by lenders and that will contribute to the overall total in mortgage lending. Landlords have been showing strong demand for remortgages as they seek to get the best interest rate possible for their portfolio to recover more profit in their investments.

Mohammad Jamei, CML economist, remarked, “Overall, we now seem to be on the cusp of a modest lending recovery. Household finances are generally improving as earnings growth continues to outstrip inflation, and mortgages are being offered at extremely competitive rates. As a result, we expect to see stronger lending in future months.”

Now that deflation has set in, there are no warnings being whispered of a possible standard base interest rate hike by the Bank of England. This gives ample time for those interested in mortgage loans to shop around without time pressing in on them to hurry and choose a deal. However, some experts do not expect the bottom low interest rate deals to remain long from lenders as they will emerge from their current competitive environment once demand increases.