Comment from John Phillips, national operations director at Just Mortgages, following The Bank of England’s Money and Credit statistics release

29 June 2023

The Bank of England released its Money and Credit statistics today revealing a rise net mortgage approvals from 49,000 in April to 50,500 in May. Remortgages rose from 32,500 in April to 33,600 in May.

The value of gross mortgage lending also rose from £16.4 billion in April to £18.7 billion in May, while gross repayments increased slightly from £18.6 billion to £18.9 billion after three consecutive months of decrease.

Just Mortgages is one of the largest mortgage brokerages in the UK, with more than 650 advisers working on either an employed or self-employed basis.

John Phillips, national operations director at Just Mortgages said: “Despite rising interest rates and a real dip in consumer confidence, the Bank of England statistics have once again defied expectations with a rise in both the number and the value of mortgage approvals in May. This once again shows the resilience of the UK housing market and the appetite or need of people still to buy property and move home.

“The rise in the number of remortgages is less astonishing – in fact it’s more of a surprise that the numbers aren’t higher, with 1.5million people due to come off a fixed rate this year. But with continued escalation of interest rates, many people could face their monthly payments tripling which will cause a real payment shock for many.

“While conditions are definitely tougher for mortgage brokers, arguably their help and advice have never been more needed than it is right now. Brokers are needed not only to find like-for-like remortgages but also to find more creative solutions for those who are really struggling to meet the new payment amounts, which may involve increasing the term of the mortgage for example, while always making borrowers aware of the implications on the overall amount of interest they will pay.”