Further evidence that the housing market is picking up came from Bank of England figures on Friday as mortgage approvals hit their highest level in nearly two and a half years in December.
The number of mortgages approved for house purchase rose to 67,241 – the highest since July 2017 – from 65,514 in November. The value of mortgage lending rose by £4.55bn, compared with an average of £4.2bn over the previous six months.
The new figures add to reports that a return of buyers to the housing market after the general election has led to a rise in prices, causing fresh difficulties for people struggling with affordability issues.
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Earlier this week, building society Nationwide said that January saw a further modest rise in annual UK house-price growth to 1.9 per cent, from 1.4 per cent in December. This followed 12 successive months in which annual price growth had been below 1 per cent.
Halifax, the UK’s largest mortgage lender, estate agents’ portal Rightmove and the surveyors’ organisation Rics have all reported a similar upturn since polling day.
Business news: In pictures
Show all 12
Business news: In pictures
1/12 Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers'
Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola
Paramount
2/12 Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday
In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share"
3/12 No deal, no tariffs
The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers
Getty
4/12 Fingerprint payment
NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint
NatWest/PA Wire
5/12 Mahabis bust
High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019
Mahabis
6/12 Costa Cola
Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant
PA
7/12 RIP Payday Loans
A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30
PA
8/12 Musk irks investors and directors
Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks
Getty
9/12 Jaguar warning
Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks
AFP/Getty
10/12 Spotif-IPO
Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold
AFP/Getty
11/12 French blue passports
The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July.
The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process.
12/12 Beast from the east economic impact
The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.
1/12 Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers'
Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola
Paramount
2/12 Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday
In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share"
3/12 No deal, no tariffs
The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers
Getty
4/12 Fingerprint payment
NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint
NatWest/PA Wire
5/12 Mahabis bust
High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019
Mahabis
6/12 Costa Cola
Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant
PA
7/12 RIP Payday Loans
A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30
PA
8/12 Musk irks investors and directors
Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks
Getty
9/12 Jaguar warning
Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks
AFP/Getty
10/12 Spotif-IPO
Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold
AFP/Getty
11/12 French blue passports
The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July.
The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process.
12/12 Beast from the east economic impact
The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.
On Thursday, the Bank of England kept interest rates on hold after signals of a pick-up. The minutes of its meeting showed that it expects the UK House Price Index to have risen quite strongly in both the final quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of this year.
Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY Item Club, said the figures were another sign that the UK housing market has “at least temporarily stepped up a gear”.
“Mortgage approvals in December were highly likely significantly lifted by increased confidence and reduced uncertainties among housing market participants following the decisive general election result,” he said.
Figures from the bank on Friday also showed growth in consumer credit, rising by £1.2bn, while credit card borrowing increased by the most since February, up by £412m.
Household spending has helped to drive Britain’s economy over the past few years, helped by record levels of employment and a recovery in wage growth, but there were signs of a slowdown in spending in late 2019.
The bank’s data also showed that December saw the biggest increase on record in net purchases of British government bonds by foreign investors – an increase of £28.6bn. The records date back to 1982.
Meanwhile, it emerged that the bank will be repaid €58m (£49m) by the European Central Bank after the UK leaves the European Union. Brexit will mean that the Bank of England pulls out of the European System of Central Banks.
The bank holds 14.3 per cent of the European Central Bank’s subscribed capital, of which 3.75 per cent – equivalent to €58m – is paid up. The capital will be reallocated between the other EU central banks.
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