Size of Help to Buy mortgages getting smaller
The average size of a Help to Buy mortgage is falling, with the typical loan now nearly £10,000 lower than the limit imposed by one of Britain’s biggest banks.
According to Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), the average Help to Buy loan now runs to £140,138, down by more than £6,000 from the average in May.
Last month, Lloyds bank brought in a £150,000 limit on the government-guaranteed loans, but the figures suggest most buyers are snapping up less expensive properties.
MAB’s data also indicates that the average home-buyer using the Help to Buy scheme is around four years younger than a typical buyer, at 32.2 years old, in comparison to 36.3 for the market in general.
Figures from the Bank of England yesterday suggested that overall mortgage lending is still some way from returning to levels seen earlier this year – 66,569 loans for house purchases were approved in July, slightly down from January, when over 76,000 mortgages were approved.
A series of regulations brought in earlier this year has halted the overall number of approvals.