50,000 new mortgages were issued to homeowners in February 2018, which is the highest February total in a decade, according to data released in April by UK Finance.

Loans to homeowners for a new home while up only marginally (0.4%) on a year ago were at their highest level since 2008, with the exception of 2016 when buyers rushed to beat the 3% second home levy.

First time buyer loans were up 2.4% on a year ago as purchasers benefit from the stamp duty relief announced in the autumn budget, and the lack of competition from buy-to-let investors. New loans for buy-to-let were down 8.8%.

Across the wider market re-mortgage activity for both homeowners and buy-to-let investors also showed a substantial uplift from a year ago, as owners seek to fix costs amid anticipation of further interest rate rises.

Source: Dataloft & UK Finance

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