Buy-to-let lending falls

Buy-to-let lending for house purchase plunged by 85% month-on-month in April as a stamp duty hike took effect, banks and building societies have reported.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Jun 2016, 15:59 BST
Updated 15th Jun 2016, 17:02 BST
The CML said a slowdown in lending in April had been expectedThe CML said a slowdown in lending in April had been expected
The CML said a slowdown in lending in April had been expected

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said 4,200 loans were handed out in April to those purchasing buy-to-let properties - marking a 85.4% fall compared with the 28,700 loans advanced for this purpose in March.

These loans were collectively worth £600 million in April - shrinking back by 86% compared with the £4.3 billion-worth of loans handed out in March for buy-to-let house purchase.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Buy-to-let lending for house purchase was also running at around half the levels seen in April 2015.

On April 1, a three percentage point stamp duty increase was introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for people buying second homes, including buy-to-let investors. Stamp duty has been abolished in Scotland but a similar tax hike took place there to mirror the changes in the rest of the UK.

Related topics:ScotlandNorthern IrelandWalesEngland