Mortgage approvals in January
UK mortgage approvals reached a 2 year high in January according to data recently released from The Bank of England, mortgage approvals for house purchases were numbered at 74,581 in January from 71,335 in December.
Consumer credit is also on the rise, many households spend more as they see the value of their home rise which is happening across the country, this is a pattern that has been played out before in the house boom cycle, consumer credit grew by 1.564 billion pounds according to the Bank of England.
The Bank of England has said it may raise the amount of money banks are required to put aside to cover their lending as the economy continues its recovery from the financial crisis.
Stricter controls are planned by the Governement on buy-to-let mortgages, they are expected to allow the (BOE) to curb lending to landlords, this will bring the rules into line to be the same as those applying for a residential mortgage, this is expected to dampen overall mortgage demand, net mortgage lending rose by 3.73 billion pounds in January.