Despite fears of the effect that the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s surprise election victory would have on people’s confidence, mortgage lending levels increased last year – and we’re not in the least surprised.
Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders released this week showed that home buyers borrowed £127.7bn in 2016, which equated to 698,900 loans, up 3 per cent on 2015.
Activity from first-time buyers was also particularly strong, with new home owners borrowing £53.2bn, up 13 per cent on 2015.
Matt Cassar, managing director of Finance Advice Centre, said: “There was a lot of talk about the effect of the Brexit vote and things did slow down a little just afterwards, but there was a lot of activity for the rest of the year and the mortgage market, just like our business, finished 2016 strongly.
“Brexit has died a death for people wanting to buy a house and the doom and gloom has long gone. Interest rates are still at a historic low, Britons still want to own their own home and I don’t believe that people base their life decisions on world events as much as many experts think they do.
“The only thing we can say is that the low interest rates are going to have to rise one day. No-one knows when, so at the moment people are continuing to enjoy the benefits of getting some excellent deals, even if they have adverse credit histories.”
