Scotland sees rise in mortgage lending
Thursday, 24 November 2011 1:12 PM
House purchase lending is rising again in Scotland, but not as fast as in the UK as a whole, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
It said there were 12,400 loans for house purchase in the third quarter, up eight per cent from the 11,500 in the second quarter although still down seven per cent on the same period a year ago.
However, loans for house purchase in the UK were up 16 per cent on the second quarter and down six per cent on a year ago.
The number of loans to first-time buyers was up seven per cent on the second quarter (13 per cent on the UK) while loans to home movers rose eight per cent (19 per cent).
However, both groups saw improvements in loan criteria. Scottish first-time buyers borrowed an average of 80 per cent of the property value (up from 79 per cent), bringing the loan to value into line with the UK average.
Home movers saw a slightly lower loan to value at 70 per cent but spent just 8.8 per cent of their income on mortgage interest payments, the lowest since records began in 2005.
CML Scotland policy consultant Kennedy Foster commented: "The uncertain economic outlook and low levels of consumer confidence will likely result in a continuing constrained mortgage market in Scotland as in the UK in general."
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