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Rise in lending in Wales aided by strong affordability

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Posted:
24/11/2017
Updated:
23/11/2017

Lending for house purchase is at its highest level in 10 years

Getting on the ladder is more affordable in Wales than in the rest of the UK.

According to data from UK Finance, first-time buyers there typically borrowed £109,250 in the third quarter of the year compared to average borrowing of £139,500 in the UK overall.

The average household income for first-time buyers in Wales was £33,904, compared to £41,009 in the UK.  The typical income multiple in Wales of 3.32 also compared favourably to the UK average of 3.61.

First-time buyers borrowed £510m in the third quarter, up 4% on the second quarter and 13% on the third quarter last year. This totalled 4,400 loans, up 5% quarter-on-quarter and 13% year-on-year.

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Home movers borrowed an average of £137,565 in this quarter and had a household income of £47,327 (£55,865 in the UK overall). This meant that the typical home mover income multiple in Wales was 3.02, compared to the UK average of 3.39.

Home movers borrowed £660 million, up 14% quarter-on-quarter and 18% compared to a year ago. This totalled 4,300 loans, up 10% both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.

Julie-Ann Haines, chair of UK Finance’s Wales Mortgage Committee, said: “Lending for house purchase is growing strongly, and is now at its highest level for a decade.

“Help to Buy Wales has made a positive contribution to the housing market, and we look forward to the Welsh government announcing its plans for the scheme in future.

In the last quarter, remortgaging also increased significantly, as borrowers took the opportunity to lock into historically low borrowing rates ahead of the widely anticipated increase in base rate earlier this month.”