Housebuyers struggle to get loans in London
HOUSEBUYERS across the country were buoyed by higher levels of purchase approvals in August, the surveyors’ group E.surv said yesterday.
Approvals were up 4.3 per cent on August 2010 and hit a 15-month high.
However, Londoners missed out on the boost, with approvals dropping by 10 per cent compared with July’s figure.
That is because of the difficulty many buyers have in raising the deposit for London’s infamously expensive property, said the consultancy.
Buyers at the lower end of the price range did find mortgages becoming easier to come by, as bank loosen lending criteria.
Approvals increased in all price brackets below £750,000, analysts found, and houses around the £125,000 mark – typically those sought by first time buyers –accounted for a quarter of all approvals nationally.
“For those who can get mortgages, the good news is that fixed rate deals seem certain to remain particularly cheap,” said E.surv’s business development director Richard Sexton. “Repayment rates will stay low for some time.”