In February this year, the second charge mortgage market reported its strongest rate of new business volumes growth since May 2017, increasing by 24% when compared to February 2018, figures published by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) revealed.
This trend continued when looking at the figures on a quarterly basis, with new business volumes increasing by 19% in the three months to February 2019, rising to 5,900. In the year to February, there were 24,249 new deals written, almost a 10% increase year-on-year.
By value, the 2,163 new agreements were worth £98m, representing a 20% growth on the figure published in February 2018. However, while February saw significant growth, the increase in value in the three months to February 2019 was not as great, rising by 13% to £264m when compared to the same period last year.
Commenting on the figures, FLA head of consumer and mortgage finance Fiona Hoyle said: “The popularity of second charge mortgages continues to grow as people opt to improve, rather than move.”
Furthermore, the FLA identified that overall consumer finance new business grew by 1% in February, when compared to the same month last year, with the total value recorded at £7.2bn.
Retail store and online credit grew by 6%, rising to £664m, while the personal loan and credit card finance sectors together reported a drop in new business of 4%, falling to £3.7bn.
FLA head of research and chief economist Geraldine Kilkelly said: “The consumer finance market has seen modest growth in new business overall since November as confidence about the economic outlook has weakened.
“We continue to expect low single-digit new business growth in 2019 as a whole if uncertainty about the outlook for the UK economy reduces.”
NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?
The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.
Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
© 2019 Perspective Publishing Privacy & Cookies
Recent Stories