Pace of lending growth slowed in June

The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £17.5 billion in June.

This is 4% higher than May (£16.8 billion), 17% higher than June last year (£14.9 billion) and the highest monthly figure since October last year (£17.6 billion).

Gross mortgage lending for the second quarter of this year was therefore an estimated £50.8 billion. This represents a 10% increase from the first three months of this year, and a 21% increase on the second quarter of 2013 (£41.9 billion).

Commenting on market conditions in this month’s Market Commentary, CML chief economist Bob Pannell observes: "The macro-prudential interventions announced by the Financial Policy Committee in late June are finely calibrated and precautionary, but could nevertheless reinforce April’s Mortgage Market Review in tipping the UK towards a more conservative lending environment.

"It is difficult to gauge the short-term direction for house purchase activity and mortgage lending more generally, given unknown regulatory impacts and uncertainty as to when the first in a series of interest rate increases will take place.”