Buckinghamshire Building Society reports significant growth in later life lending and capital raising for remortgage

17 July 2024

Buckinghamshire Building Society has announced a significant increase in the take-up of its later life lending proposition with Decision in principles doubling from May to June 2024. This growth underlines the Society's position as a key player in this space and follows the launch of desktop valuations.

Following a comprehensive lending review of H1 2024, Buckinghamshire Building Society has also observed a notable increase in capital raising for remortgage purposes. Internal data shows that 7 out of 10 remortgages are now being used for debt consolidation. In addition, over the past three months, the average loan amount has increased by £20,000.

Another significant trend experienced by the lender is a shift towards fixed-rate mortgages, which now makes up 70% of the Society's residential business.

Despite market challenges and a reported scarcity of available properties, except for a slight dip in January, the Society has reported maintaining a steady flow of first-time buyer (FTB) 95% purchase business over the course of H1 2024. This consistent demand highlights the lenders extensive, flexible and innovative first-time buyer product range.

Claire Askham, Head of Mortgage Sales at Buckinghamshire Building Society, commented:

"Up until early May, activity in the later life lending space was relatively slow, but recent weeks have shown a substantial uptick. The introduction of desktop valuations has been instrumental in supporting this growth, helping to reduce overall costs for borrowers, particularly given the typically lower loan amounts paired with high property valuations. Many of the DIPs we have received in this sector have been for debt consolidation purposes."

“Debt consolidation has also been a key factor in our remortgage business during the first half of the year as capital raising appears to have become more of a priority for homeowners across the UK with a greater proportion of borrowers also now opting for a fixed rate mortgage.

“When charting trends over H1 2024, it’s been highly encouraging to see a steady flow of 95% LTV applications coming in and, as a society, we remain committed to a first-time buyer market which needs all the support it can get from an affordability standpoint during what remain some challenging times of many borrowers.”