Mortgage lending remains well above historic norms as homeowners seek more space and larger homes. A shortage of homes to buy, however, is placing an upper limit on the number of loans banks were able to grant.

Lenders granted 86,900 mortgages to homebuyers in April, up 4% on a month earlier, according to data published this week by the Bank of England.

Though that’s only a small rise on the previous month, lending remains well above historic norms as buyers continue to reassess their housing needs in the wake of the pandemic. Historically, lenders issue about 64,000 loans for house purchase a month around this time of year.

Simon Gammon, Managing Partner at Knight Frank Finance, said: "Mortgage approvals, though rising, are being held in check by a shortage of stock in the sales market despite a huge weight of demand from home seekers. That supply and demand imbalance is fuelling house price growth unlike anything we've seen since 2014."

"The shortage has been caused by a unique set of circumstances. We didn't see the usual post-Christmas spike in listings due to uncertainty over new Covid variants and concerns among sellers they might miss the original March stamp duty holiday."

"We expect that imbalance to right itself over the coming months as sellers list more homes amid a wave of confidence in the economy. That should also relieve some upward pressure on house prices and boost the number of mortgage approvals even further over the summer, before normal seasonal housing market activity begins to return for the first time since the pandemic."

"Lenders are also taking note of the brighter economic picture and we're seeing greater eagerness to do deals and build market share than any time since the onset of the pandemic. There have been few better times to borrow."

There are opportunities in the market at the moment and mortgage rates remain competitive. If you’re reviewing your current mortgage or looking to buy this year, please get in touch to see what we can arrange for you.