The total monthly number of mortgage approvals for the purpose of a house sale in the UK plummeted in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a spike in the second half of the year. In 2021, interest rates started to rise, resulting in a decline in the volume of mortgage approvals. In October 2025, mortgage approvals for home purchases totaled ******, while remortgage approvals stood at around ******. Being approved for a mortgage is one of the first steps in purchasing a home, which makes it an early indicator of the development of transaction volumes. However, a mortgage approval does not necessarily mean that a sale is going to take place, as home buyers need to undergo several other steps to complete the sale: conveyancing, or the process of transferring the legal title of the property from the seller to the buyer, a property survey, contract exchange, and closing.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the number of residential mortgage approvals in the UK plummeted. As the measures eased, the market rebounded, peaking at ******* mortgage approvals in November 2020. In 2022 and 2023, mortgage lending declined again as a response to the rising mortgage interest rates and the cooling of the housing market. In May 2025, the number of mortgage approvals exceeded *******—up from about ****** in the same month a year ago. The increase indicated a rise in mortgage demand and an improvement in consumer sentiment.

Mortgage Approvals in the United Kingdom decreased to 65.02 Thousand in October from 65.65 Thousand in September of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Mortgage Approvals - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The monthly number of approvals for remortgaging loans to individuals in the UK increased between 2012 and 2020, before plummeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second half of 2021, remortgaging activity headed for recovery and in October 2022, there were about 50,000 approvals. However, as mortgage interest rates soared, remortgaging fell dramatically, reaching a record low of about 20,000 approvals in October 2023. House purchase mortgage approvals followed a similar trend.

The number of monthly mortgage approvals for home purchase in the United Kingdom (UK) peaked at nearly 108,000 approvals in November 2020, after falling to record low levels at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the second quarter of the year. The spike was due to the easing of the first lockdown and a rise in the demand for housing. In 2022, the housing market started to cool, resulting in a falling number of mortgage approvals. In September 2024, there were 65,647 mortgage approvals. Remortgaging approvals followed a similar trend.

Mortgage approvals in the UK refer to the number of new home loans approved by banks and other lenders, serving as a key indicator of housing market activity and consumer confidence.-2025-12-01

As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of residential mortgage approvals in the United Kingdom (UK) plummeted in the second quarter of 2020. With the easing of the measures, the market quickly headed for recovery. Nevertheless, the total number of mortgage approvals in 2020 remained below the ********* average.

UK Mortgage Approvals Data from the Bank of England

Monthly Data

Contains both the seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted series.

1. Monthly number of total sterling approvals for house purchase to individuals not seasonally adjusted - LPMVTVU

2. Monthly number of total sterling approvals for house purchase to seasonally adjusted LPMVTVX

Overview with Chart & Report: BoE Mortgage Approvals reflect the number of new mortgages approved during the previous month by UK mortgage lenders. Prior to index publication, a number of alternative mortgage reports are

In the last three years, the highest number of mortgage approvals by building societies in the UK took place in March 2021 at over 46,000. In March 2020, the number of mortgage approvals amounted to approximately 36,000. The highest value of building societies residential mortgage loans during that period was also recorded in March 2021. Building societies, unlike banks are not listed on the stock market and thus, don't have external shareholders. Instead, the "owners" and decision makers in building societies are mortgage borrowers, savers and current account holders. Building societies offer many traditional banking products and financial services such as mortgage lending, savings and current accounts.

The value of mortgage approvals in the UK started to increase in the final quarter of 2023, reaching 22.7 billion British pounds in September 2024. In recent years, the market has undergone significant fluctuations, including a dramatic decline in May 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and two notable drops in 2023, attributable to the aggressive mortgage interest rate hikes and worsening economic conditions.

Home Loans in the United Kingdom decreased to 4273 GBP Million in October from 5223 GBP Million in September of 2025. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Mortgage Lending- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The value of buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage loans for property remortgaging in the UK was forecast to continue to increase in 2025, after plummeting in 2023. In 2023, buy-to-let mortgages originated for a property purchase amounted to ************ British pounds, while remortgage originations totaled ** billion British pounds. By 2026, mortgage lending for purchases was forecast to remain stable, while remortgage lending was expected to rise to ** billion British pounds.

Mortgage approvals in the UK refer to the number of new home loans approved by banks and other lenders, serving as a key indicator of housing market activity and consumer confidence.-2024-08-30

The value of approvals issued for house purchase lending in the UK plummeted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a record low of 1.9 billion British pounds in May 2020. In the second half of the year, the release of pent-up demand led to the value of approvals spiking at over 23 billion British pounds in November 2020. With mortgage rates increasing in response to stubborn inflation, the value of mortgage approvals saw a substantial decrease in 2022 and an uptick in 2023, with the latest data showing a value of 15.6 billion British pounds in May 2025. Remortgage approvals followed a similar trend.

The number of final orders made against mortgage cases disposed in the High Court. Datasets are produced on an annual year basis. The dataset is entered onto ICOS, the Integrated Courts Operations System. The data are then extracted and merged with the Central Postcode Directory, and aggregated information uploaded to this portal. Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service collects information on writs and originating summonses issued in respect of mortgages in Chancery Division of the Northern Ireland High Court. This covers both Northern Ireland Housing Executive and private mortgages, and relates to both domestic and commercial properties. A mortgage case may involve more than one address or a land property. In such cases, the first postcode address entered onto ICOS is used. Not all writs and originating summonses lead to eviction. A plaintiff begins an action for an order for possession of property. The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession. This entitles the plaintiff to apply for an order to have the defendant evicted. However, even where an order for eviction is issued the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. When a case is disposed of, it may have more than one final order made. This database contains the last final order made. A description of the orders is below: Possession: The court orders the defendant to deliver possession of the property to the plaintiff within a specified time. If the defendant fails to comply with the court order the plaintiff may proceed to apply to the Enforcement of Judgements Office to repossess the property and give possession of it to the plaintiff. Sale and Possession: If the plaintiff seeks possession of property which is subject to an ‘equitable mortgage’ (i.e. normally one created informally by the deposit of deeds rather than the execution of a mortgage deed) the court may order a sale of the property to enable enforcement of the equitable mortgage and that the defendant give up possession for that purpose. The sale price is subject to approval by the court. Suspended Possession: The court may postpone the date for delivery of possession if it is satisfied that the defendant is likely to be able, within a reasonable period, to pay any sums due under the mortgage, or to remedy any other breach of the obligations under the mortgage. A suspended possession order cannot be enforced by the plaintiff without the permission of the court, which will only be granted after a further hearing. Other: other orders include strike out, dismiss action, and other less common orders. Strike out: This occurs when the moving party does not wish to proceed any further, or when the court rules that there is no reasonable ground for bringing or defending the mortgage action. Dismiss action: The mortgage action is dismissed by the courts. Other orders: These include: (a) Declaration of possession coupled with an order for sale in lieu of partition and (b) Stay of Eviction - after a Possession Order is granted but prior to actual repossession, the Defendant may apply to Court to seek a stay of eviction which, if granted, prevents repossession for a certain defined period. Users of this data may have been able to self-identify themselves due to the low values in some cells. Primary and secondary disclosure control methods have been applied to this data, denoted by cells with missing data in the tables. Values of less than four, but not zero, were initially suppressed, but some of these values could have been calculated using some row and column totals and thus secondary suppression was applied to the next lowest value in the row and column. The data contain the number of final orders made against cases disposed by each Assembly Area and have the following proportions of postcode coverage: 2010, 97.8%; 2011, 97.3%; 2012, 97.7%; 2013, 96.5%; 2014, 96.0%; 2015, 94.8%; 2016, 95.5%; 2017, 95.1%; 2018, 94.8%; 2019, 93.8%; 2020, 95.6%; 2021, 93.6%; 2022, 95.3%; 2023, 97.5%; 2024, 95.7%.

The gross monthly mortgage lending of building societies in the UK between 2017 and 2023 ranged from ************* British pounds and ********** British pounds. In September 2023, the value of gross lending stood at nearly *** billion British pounds - a decline of more than *** billion British pounds from the same month in 2022. The fluctuation in lending can also be seen in the number of mortgage loan approvals.Building societies, unlike banks, are not listed on the stock market and thus, don't have external shareholders. Instead, the "owners" and decision makers of building societies are mortgage borrowers, savers and current account holders. Building societies offer many traditional banking products and financial services such as mortgage lending, savings and current accounts.

Mortgage rates surged at an unprecedented pace in 2022, with the average 10-year fixed rate doubling between March and December of that year. In response to mounting inflation, the Bank of England implemented a series of rate hikes, pushing borrowing costs steadily higher. By October 2025, the average 10-year fixed mortgage rate stood at **** percent. As financing becomes more expensive, housing demand has cooled, weighing on market sentiment and slowing house price growth. How have the mortgage hikes affected the market? After surging in 2021, the number of residential properties sold fell significantly in 2023, dipping to just above *** million transactions. This contraction in activity also dampened mortgage lending. Between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, the value of new mortgage loans declined year-on-year for five consecutive quarters. Even as rates eased modestly in 2024 and housing activity picked up slightly, volumes remained well below the highs recorded in 2021. How are higher mortgages impacting homebuyers? For homeowners, the impact is being felt most acutely as fixed-rate deals expire. Mortgage terms in the UK typically range from two to ten years, and many borrowers who locked in historically low rates are now facing significantly higher repayments when refinancing. By the end of 2026, an estimated five million homeowners will see their mortgage deals expire. Roughly two million of these loans are projected to experience a monthly payment increase of up to *** British pounds by 2026, putting additional pressure on household budgets and constraining affordability across the market.

House prices in the UK rose dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic, with growth slowing down in 2022 and turning negative in 2023. The year-on-year annual house price change peaked at 14 percent in July 2022. In April 2025, house prices increased by 3.5 percent. As of late 2024, the average house price was close to 290,000 British pounds. Correction in housing prices: a European phenomenon The trend of a growing residential real estate market was not exclusive to the UK during the pandemic. Likewise, many European countries experienced falling prices in 2023. When comparing residential property RHPI (price index in real terms, e.g. corrected for inflation), countries such as Germany, France, Italy, and Spain also saw prices decline. Sweden, one of the countries with the fastest growing residential markets, saw one of the largest declines in prices. How has demand for UK housing changed since the outbreak of the coronavirus? The easing of the lockdown was followed by a dramatic increase in home sales. In November 2020, the number of mortgage approvals reached an all-time high of over 107,000. One of the reasons for the housing boom were the low mortgage rates, allowing home buyers to take out a loan with an interest rate as low as 2.5 percent. That changed as the Bank of England started to raise the base lending rate, resulting in higher borrowing costs and a decline in homebuyer sentiment.

The value of residential mortgage lending picked up across 11 of the 16 ranked European countries in 2025. In the UK, new lending in the first quarter of the year amounted to **** billion euros, up from ** billion euros in the same quarter in 2024. This trend was also observed across the rest of the large mortgage markets in Europe — Germany, France, and the Netherlands. One of the main reasons for the recovery was the easing of the mortgage interest rates.