Mortgage lending spiralled upwards in March as landlords and second home buyers rushed to beat the stamp duty increase on second homes that came into play in April.
Gross mortgage borrowing in March reached £17.1 billion – 64% higher than a year ago and the highest borrowing seen since April 2008.
Mortgage approvals were 20% higher than a year ago too, with house purchase up 14% and remortgaging up 25%.
Dr Rebecca Harding, Chief Economic Advisor at the BBA, said:
“A surge in buy-to-let and second home buying ahead of the new stamp duty surcharge in April led to a sharp rise in March’s gross mortgage borrowing as people brought transactions forward.
“For households more widely, consumer credit continues to grow above real earnings growth, as improving consumer confidence and low interest rates combine to stimulate borrowing demand for personal loans, cards and overdrafts.
“Business borrowing is moderating within distribution, manufacturing, food and accommodation sectors, as large corporates use capital markets for their funding and both large and small businesses continue to build up deposits”.
