The number of mortgage approvals fluctuated throughout 2019, plummeting as low as 62,000 but also going beyond forecast, reaching as many as 67,000. Towards the end of the year, the housing market saw a definite increase in mortgage approvals – reaching 64,994 between November and December – and although the December data* is yet to be confirmed, it’s likely to show a similar result.
So if you’re thinking of getting a new home in 2020 and need to find the best mortgage deal, what do these figures really say about your chances of getting on the property ladder this year?
The current figures show that getting a mortgage still isn’t plain sailing. The housing market has come a long way since the financial crash of 2008, which saw historically low mortgage approval rates of around 26,000 in the November of that year. And although there has been an improvement, it’s still clear that mortgage approval rates haven’t fully recovered to anywhere near pre-crash levels, and they certainly aren’t close to the mortgage boom years of the 1980s where May 1988 saw over 150,000 mortgages approvals (the largest number recorded for the UK).
If we look at home ownership rates, these numbers have not fully recovered from the financial crisis of 2008 either. In 2007, we saw an all-time increase in home ownership rates, sitting at 73.3 per cent, but that number was then at a historic low in 2016, at just 63.4 per cent.
So what is the current rate of home ownership?
Just over 65 per cent – only two per cent over the historic low.
So given the relatively auspicious economic climate, low unemployment, and low interest rates, what’s the underlying reason behind such low home ownership rates?
If we take a closer look at mortgage approvals, there is a downward tendency on remortgage approvals, while net mortgage lending keeps going up – by billions.
People are finding it more difficult to move up the property ladder – a well recorded problem since 2016 – and they are borrowing ever larger amounts to use on housing due to hefty deposits that are unaffordable for most. Mortgage approval rates would go up significantly, if first-time buyers had access to more low-deposit mortgage options that are not guarantor mortgages or Help to Buy.
Want to maximise your chances of getting approved for a mortgage in 2020? Read out guide to mortgages for first-time buyers, which covers deposits and much more.
*All data from Trading Economics
BY ANNA COTTRELL
Source: Real Homes