Mortgage lending in 2010 'to get off to a slow start'

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:45:05 GMT

Mortgage lending in 2010 is expected to get off to a "slow start", one expert has stated.

Bernard Clarke, spokesman for the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), says that while he predicts that there will be an increase in lending activity over the course of the coming year, things are not expected to pick up until the later in 2010.

"The figures for December were boosted by the desire of borrowers to try to rush the purchase through in order to avoid paying stamp duty [and] in order to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday," he advises.

Mr Clarke adds that mortgage lenders are still only seeing a "handful" of deals go through due to the fact that the home loan market is still not as competitive as it once was.

However, his comments do not coincide with recent statistics from Paragon Mortgages, which reveal that 58 per cent of brokers expect to see an increase in business in the first quarter of 2010.

On average, those questioned expect mortgage business levels to increase by 7.1 per cent in the first three months of the year.

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