Scotland house purchase lending up 23 per cent

Right to BuyThe amount of money borrowed by Scottish home buyers is 23 per cent higher than the previous quarter, according to figures by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Home buyers borrowed £2.2 billion for house purchases, which was up 23 per cent quarter-on-quarter but down 1 per cent year-on-year. They took out 16,500 loans, up 23 per cent on the previous quarter but down 4 per cent compared to the second quarter 2015.

First-time buyers borrowed £920 million, up 42 per cent on the first quarter and 2 per cent on the second quarter last year. This equated to 8,500 loans, up 39 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 4 per cent year-on-year.

Home movers borrowed £1.2bn, up 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter but down 5 per cent compared to a year ago. This totalled 8,100 loans, up 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter but down 9 per cent on quarter two 2015.

Remortgage activity totalled £850m, up 9 per cent both on the first quarter 2016 and the second quarter 2015. This came to 7,100 loans, up 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 4 per cent compared to a year ago.

Carol Anderson, CML Scotland chair, said: “First-time buyers continue to be a key driver in the market. This is the 19th successive quarter of growth in first-time buyers compared to a year earlier, and is the highest quarterly number of first-time buyer loans since mid-2007. So, although the data reflects pre-EU referendum, it suggests the Scotland market is in good shape and open for business moving forward.”

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