House purchase lending up 36% in Scotland
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House purchase lending in Scotland rose by more than the UK as a whole in Q2 of 2011, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Some 11,300 loans for house purchase, worth £1.3bn, were taken out in Q2 of 2011 in Scotland, a rise of 36% in number and 42% in value from Q1.
The UK as a whole experienced an increase of 26% in volume and 25% in value.
The number of loans to first-time buyers rose from 3,300 in Q1 to 4,300 In Q2.
This was a larger increase at 30% by volume and 37% by value than the increase experienced by first-time buyers UK-wide. Home mover lending also increased by more in Scotland. 7,000 loans were advanced to home movers in Scotland compared to 5,100 loans in Q1.
Scottish first-time buyers typically borrowed 79% of their property’s value in Q2, up from 77% in the previous quarter. This in now closer to, although still below, the average of 80% in the UK as a whole. First-time buyers also took out loans on average 2.9 times their income, up from 2.84 in the first quarter but below the 3.19 seen UK-wide.
While in the rest of the UK remortgage activity fell in the second quarter, in Scotland it remained virtually unchanged. There were 8,900 remortgage loans taken out compared to 8,800 in the first quarter. The value of the loans was again £900M.
Kennedy Foster, policy consultant for CML Scotland, says: “We have seen the expected seasonal increase in mortgage activity in Scotland in the second quarter of 2011, but levels of mortgage activity remain at low levels by historical standards. With the uncertain economic outlook we expect this to continue for the rest of the year.”
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