The volume of new mortgage loans made to home movers in England rose by 32% year-on-year in Q4 2024, according to the latest update to the regional mortgage market factsheets from UK Finance.
The rise in lending in England was comparable to that in Wales (31%), but was dwarfed by the 40% uptick in Northern Ireland.
While Scotland saw an increase in borrowing, it only recorded a 22% increase in mortgage volumes.
The value of new mortgage loans made to home movers grew by 42% in England, again outperforming Wales (39%) and Scotland (30%).
However, Northern Ireland saw the value of new loans to home movers hit £338m, an increase of 51%.
The data revealed a different picture for first-time buyers. In Northern Ireland, the value of new mortgages extended to first-time buyers was up only 22% and the volume of new mortgages just 13%.
This compared unfavourably with Scotland, where volumes and values were up 22% and 33% respectively – and Wales where volumes and values were up 25% and 34%.
In England, the volume of new mortgage loans extended to first-time buyers rose 29% while values rose 39%.
The factsheets showed 8,401,506 outstanding mortgages in the UK – 7,055,483 outstanding mortgages in England, of which 5,980,809 are on fixed rates (85%) and 1,074,674 on variable rates (15%), and 613,002 mortgages (9%) on interest-only payment terms.
Outstanding mortgages in England are now worth £1,181bn – 89% of the UK’s total.
In the English regions, the largest increases in new loans to home movers were recorded in the North West where the volume of new loans rose 39% and the value 49%.
The lowest home movers loan increases were in the South West where the volume of new loans rose 28% and the value 35%.
East Anglia and Greater London saw the value of news loans to first-time buyers rise 44%, the highest in England; the values of new news grew fastest in Greater London (35%).
The lowest increase in both the volume and value of new loans to first-time buyers were recorded in the East Midlands (23% and 30% respectively).
Mark Michaelides, chief commercial officer of buy-to-let lender Molo, told The Intermediary: “The UK Finance data provides more compelling evidence that the mortgage and property markets are shaking off the downturn in their fortunes – with regions like the West Midlands, Northern Ireland and the North West seeing between 48 and 50% increases in the value of loans to home movers, year on year.
“While the growth projections for the UK economy might have been downgraded by the OECD over the Trump tariff war, Britain is still on track to be the second fastest-growing economy in the G7 in 2025.
“Recent Rightmove data shows the highest property choice at this time of year for a decade, with the volume of sales being agreed 9% higher than in 2024.
“That’s important given how much the purchase market can be becalmed by a lack of stock. Although much of that activity is down to the stamp duty deadline, the wobble we have seen recently is now behind us; landlords should be reassured that the worst is now behind them.”
