New CML data on the characteristics of lending in February of 2015 broken down by trends to first-time buyers, home movers, remortgaging and buy-to-let.
Home-owner house purchase lending declined in February both compared to the previous month and February 2014. The number of loans advanced totalled 40,600, down 1% on January and 16% compared to the same month in 2014. These loans totalled £6.8bn, which was down 3% on January and 13% on February last year.
There were 18,700 loans advanced to first-time buyers - down 1% on January and 16% compared to February 2014. These loans by value were £2.7 billion, which was down 4% on January and 13% down on February last year.
Home movers were advanced 21,900 loans, a decline of 2% compared to January and 16% down year-on-year. These loans totalled in value £4.1bn - 2% down on January and 13% down compared to February 2014.
Remortgage lending decreased month-on-month with 21,500 loans advanced - down 16% on January and 14% down on February 2014. The value of these loans (£3.3 billion) also decreased month-on-month by 20% and was down 11% year-on-year compared to February 2014.
There were 15,900 buy-to-let loans in February - down 13% on the previous month but up 11% on the same period in 2014. These loans came to £2.2bn in value, down 12% compared to January but up 16% on February 2014.
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, commented: "As with January, seasonal factors have played their part in dampening house purchase lending activity in February. This typical seasonal trend may also be exacerbated by uncertainty ahead of the general election, but we still expect to see an upturn in the spring and summer months. Buy-to-let, in contrast, has shown year-on-year lending increases, due almost completely to remortgaging which is typically strong in the buy-to-let market.
"We this month launched the CML buy-to-let statement of practice which reflects what responsible lenders already do and offers a clear explanation of how buy-to-let lenders operate. We hope it will help in people's understanding of the buy-to-let lending environment and the transparency of the statement of practice can give confidence to landlords that clear and consistent lending policies are being undertaken."
As previously reported, gross mortgage lending reached £13.6 billion in February. This represents an 8% decrease from January’s gross lending total and 8% lower than lending in February 2014.