Landlords are the only group borrowing more than a year ago, according to the latest lending industry data, while first-time buyers and ordinary homeowners are taking out fewer loans than at the same time last year.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders figures for November, published today, confirmed the general slowdown in the housing market already evident in much data from other sources. But they also highlighted the fact that buying-to-let remains in rude health, with lending to landlords up 9pc compared with the year before. Overall lending to mainstream home-buyers fell by 7pc over the year to 55,600 loans in November.
Lending to first-time buyers was 3pc down on the year before.
On a monthly basis lending to all borrowers fell in November compared to October, although this could be ascribed to a seasonal slowdown. The CML's figures are not seasonally adjusted to factor this in.
Remortgaging - where existing borrowers remain in their home but switch lender - is also in decline, down 16pc on November last year. This is despite the continuing fall in mortgage rates during the period, and the emergence some lowest-ever rates for re-mortgagers.
Andy Knee, chief executive of property services provider LMS, said the annual fall in lending to first-time buyers is most likely due to the strict lending rules introduced in April that continue to lock some people out of the market.
Blue line: buy-to-let lending; black line: first-time buyers
He added the year-on-year fall in remortaging could be due to the general market perception that acquiring a mortgage has become tougher since April and expectations that interest rates are set to remain low until a more robust economic recovery is established. He added: "The slowdown in activity in the market may be reflective of wider changes in the economy - specifically uncertainty ahead of the election in May."
Buy-to-let
There were 17,700 buy-to-let loans in November, representing lending of £2.4bn. This compares to 25,900 loans made to first-time buyers (see grpah, below).
Of the landlord loans 8,900 were advanced for house purchase and 8,600 for remortgage.
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, says: ‘While the number of first-time buyers, those moving and remortgaging has fallen compared with November last year, buy-to-let goes from strength to strength. This is no real surprise with savings accounts paying pitiful rates, demand from tenants for rental property strong and lenders cutting buy-to-let rates."
First-time buyers: can they afford it?
First-time buyer "affordability" changed fractionally, with first-time buyers typically borrowing 3.37 times their gross income, compared to 3.39 in October.
The typical loan size for first-time buyers fell for the second consecutive time month-on-month to £124,822 in November, down from £125,800 in October. The typical gross income of a first-time buyer household changed slightly to £38,476 in November from £38,801 in October.
Number of loans advanced to first-time buyers
Home movers
Home movers’ affordability remained consistent month-on-month, with borrowers typically being advanced a loan at around 3 times their gross income in November.
The typical loan size for home movers was £152,995 in November, practically unchanged from October. The typical gross household income of a home mover was £53,368 in November - again very similar to £53,515 in October.
Number of loans advanced to home movers
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