Paul Stockwell, Chief Commercial Officer at Gatehouse Bank, comments on the Bank of England's Mortgage Lending Statistics for Q4, 2020
“The value of new mortgage commitments has hit a 14-year high, propelled largely by homeowners who aspired to move to bigger properties while under lockdown restrictions, and who quickly capitalised on the stamp duty incentive when it was announced last summer.
“Their activity meant the annual growth rate for these new mortgage commitments nearly quadrupled in the final quarter of 2020.
“The stamp duty extension announced in the Budget last week will help to ensure many of these mortgage agreements carry through to completion and gross mortgage advances in the first three months 2021 are likely to be strong.
“It’s becoming evident that the stamp duty holiday’s stay of execution will mean sustained high levels of mortgage activity through to the summer as another busy house hunting season gets underway now that schools are reopening and the weather is improving.”