UK Housing Market Sitting Idle Prior to the General Election
The UK housing market is in a state of neutrality these days, according to the latest mortgage lending data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The general election is expected not to have any impact on the current climate. During the month of March, the housing market posted a total of £21.4bn which is on par for the average month over the past twelve months. The figure is slightly off the total of March 2016 when buy to let mortgage lending was surging. This year mortgage lending was £5bn less than last year.
The coming hike in stamp duty for buy to let property was news last year and created the surge last March. Following that month, mortgage lending slowed a bit, but did not fizzle entirely.
This year, first time buyers and remortgage clients have pushed mortgage lending to its higher points. Remortgage activity has been especially feverish and even helped the month of February post a figure which is the highest in a few years as a percentage of overall lending.
Remortgage in fact is becoming more and more popular with current home owners as a lending tool to assist those looking for a way to help save money and create extra cash for other purposes.
Mohammad Jamei of the CML commented on the latest figures, saying: "There has been a shift towards first-time buyer and remortgage customers, away from home movers and buy-to-let landlords.”
The general election typically negatively affects the housing market in some fashion, but according to the CML is not expected to this year.