A total £130m worth of new business was agreed in the second charge mortgage market during December, new figures from the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) have shown.

This represented a 35% jump on December 2023.

According to the FLA data, 2,505 new second charge mortgage agreements were made in December, which was a level up 16% on the final month of 2023.

FLA members in the consumer finance sector include second charge mortgage lenders, as well as banks, credit card providers, store card providers, personal loan and instalment credit providers, and motor finance providers.

Across 2024, the association has revealed that its members provided £155bn of new finance to UK businesses and households. Around £1.7bn of this was in the second charge mortgage market, which was 25% up on the level recorded in 2023.

Director of consumer and mortgage finance and inclusion at the FLA, Fiona Hoyle, said: “The second charge mortgage market reported growth in each month of 2024, with new business volumes up by 17% in 2024 overall to reach almost 36,000 new agreements. This was the highest annual total since 2009.

“The distribution of new business by purpose of loan in 2024 was in line with the previous year, with the proportion of new agreements which were for the consolidation of existing loans at 59.0%; for home improvements and the consolidation of existing loans at 22.9%; and for home improvements only at 12.5%.”

---