March experienced a slow month by many experts’ standards in regard to UK housing market fundamentals. Whether it was rising inflation overall or just a lull in the thick of winter, a slowdown took place in the month of March which left some close to the housing market scratching their collective heads. Gross mortgage lending was one of the sectors which paused in activity level. It fell by almost 20% year on year in the month and totaled £21.4 billion.

Gross lending reached a higher point than the previous month by almost £18 billion, but was almost 20% lower than the same month of 2016.

Gross mortgage lending, like growth of house prices, is a leading indicator of health within the housing market. Although the month saw lower figures than forecasted, much optimism remains going forward about the short term.

The year on year comparison with last March was expected to be lower by many due to the rush of lending which took place last year due to the oncoming buy to let tax which went live the following month. Many landlords pushed the process into high speed to save money on property purchases.

CML senior economist Mohammad Jamei commented on the latest figures, saying: “Mortgage lending appears to be in neutral gear. Our gross estimate for March is £24 billion and this is broadly in line with average monthly lending over the past year. Within this aggregate level, there has been a shift towards first-time buyer and re-mortgage customers, away from home movers and buy to let landlords.”

Jamei added: “We expect this profile to continue over the short term as low mortgage rates encourage existing home owners to remortgage and government schemes help first time buyers. We do not expect any marked effect from the General Election.”