March lending lifted by stamp duty deadline

Friday 27th April 2012

Gross mortgage lending in March was an estimated £13.4billion, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

This represents a 30% rise from £10.3billion in February and a 17% rise from March 2011 (£11.4billion).

This is the highest monthly total since September 2011 (£13.6billion) and the highest monthly total for March since 2008 (£23.9billion).

Gross lending for the first quarter of this year was therefore an estimated £34.4billion, down from £37.8billion in the previous quarter but a 13% increase from the first three months of 2011 (£30.3billion).

CML chief economist Bob Pannell said: "The increase in our March lending estimate appears to be almost entirely due to stronger house purchase activity. The most likely explanation is that buyers wanted to complete their transactions before the end of the stamp duty concession on 24 March.

"The underlying picture for house purchase activity has been relatively buoyant in recent months. However, we would be surprised if we did not see a drop in transactions over the next few months, following the end of the stamp duty concession, especially as it will take some while for NewBuy transaction levels to build."

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Mike Jones