The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £16.5 billion in March. This is 21% higher than February (£13.6 billion), and 7% higher than March last year (£15.4 billion).
Gross mortgage lending for the first quarter of this year was therefore an estimated £44.9 billion. This represents a 12% decrease from the last three months of 2014, and a 3% decrease on the first quarter of 2014.
Commenting on market conditions, CML chief economist Bob Pannell observes: "The underlying lending picture is stabilising. Sentiment and activity are showing early signs of improvement, and should be further supported by the effects of stamp duty reform. We expect to see lending strengthen over the next few months, albeit from a relatively sluggish start in 2015.”
The Council of Mortgage Lenders' members are banks, building societies and other lenders who together undertake around 95% of all residential mortgage lending in the UK. There are 11.1 million mortgages in the UK, with loans worth over £1.3 trillion.