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First-time Buyers

Northern Ireland leads house purchase lending growth

Samantha Partington
Written By:
Samantha Partington
Posted:
Updated:
28/05/2014

Gross lending in Northern Ireland for house purchases increased by 41% to

Growth in England was slightly behind with a 38% uplift in the value of lending for house purchases worth £21.35bn in Q1, with lending in Greater London accounting for £5.6bn.

Scotland and Wales both saw a 31% year-on-year rise in house purchase lending; with £1.47bn and £640m of loans advanced in Q1 respectively.

England saw the biggest rise in first-time buyer lending in Q1 of £8.6bn with a 50% increase year-on-year.

Scotland followed with £580m of lending representing a 45% increase, Northern Ireland with £130m of first-time buyer lending, a 44% rise and Wales with £260m, a 37% increase.

But Northern Ireland was the strongest of the four countries for a year-on-year increase in lending to homemovers with £120m in Q1, a 50% increase.

Brian McCormick, chair of the CML in Northern Ireland, said: “The strong upward year-on-year trend in Northern Ireland is showing growth in all borrower types.

“Northern Ireland has very particular challenges compared to the rest of the UK so seeing increased activity over the past few quarters shows progress that will hopefully continue going forward.”

Lending to homemovers in England reached £12.7bn, an increase of 37% while Scotland and Wales gross lending to homemovers stood at £890m and £380m, a rise of 25% and 23% respectively.