The number of small deposit borrowers being approved has increased, according to e.surv’s latest Mortgage Monitor, with 21% of all approvals now going to this part of the market.

In December 2017, 18.2% of loans were to this part of the market while the month before it was just 17.2%.

January’s data is the second full month of data following the Bank of England’s decision to increase the base rate to 0.5%. “This rate rise, plus the speculation in the weeks leading up to the decision, has spurred many people into taking action, either looking to take out a mortgage or switching to a new deal,” the firm said.

These customers have now started to filter through to the approvals data. The latest data reported there were 66,484 mortgages approved during January 2018.

e.surv director Richard Sexton said: “We are now starting to see the effects of the Bank of England’s decision to increase the base rate filtering through to the market.

“While it is now two months on from the base rate rise, we are starting to see those who were alarmed by the talk of increased rates finalise new mortgage deals, whether with their existing lender or elsewhere.”

Share Story: