 The Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed today that November saw a rise in UK mortgage lending after the take-up of fixed-rate mortgages soared. The amount of mortgage-holders who took out mortgages rose to its highest level for more than two years during the month, and increased year-on-year for only the second time during last year, rising by 3 per cent to 47,000 which represents a 5 per cent rise in the total value of mortgages taken out to £6.9 billion, the CML said. There was also a rise in the amount of remortgaging deals, which increased from 30,700 in November 2010 to 31,200. Some 65 per cent of mortgages taken out in November 2011 were fixed-rate deals, compared to 62 per cent the previous month. The increase was down to a greater number of good deals on the market, the trade association said. This is a result of the Bank of England continuing to keep the base rate of interest at its historic low rate of 0.5 per cent, prompting lenders such as the Post Office and Nationwide to cut the rates on many of their fixed-rate mortgages. CML went on to say that first-time mortgage-holders took out mortgages with a total value of £2.1 billion in November 2011 in some 17,300 separate deals, a 4 per cent increase in volume and a 5 per cent increase in total value compared to November 2010. CML director general Paul Smee commented: “We should expect a further increase in first-time buyer activity over the next few months as they push through their purchases to take advantage of the stamp duty concession before it ends in March.”
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