CML news & views

Borrowing for house purchase in Scotland was higher in the first three months of 2010 than in the same period last year – mirroring the pattern in the rest of the UK. The increase happened despite the end of a stamp duty holiday in December, which depressed figures for the first three months of this year as borrowers sought to complete their purchase before the year end.

Our data shows that there were 9,700 loans for house purchase in Scotland, worth £1.1 billion, in the first three months of this year. That was significantly lower than the 14,400 mortgages, worth £1.6 billion, in the last quarter of 2009. There was a similar pattern in the rest of the UK.

But, even with this effect, the number of loans for house purchase in Scotland was up by 28% in number on the first quarter of 2009 (and their value was 38% higher).

There was a similar pattern for first-time buyers in Scotland, with 3,900 loans, worth £326 million – a 28% decline in numbers on the last three months of 2009 but a 39% increase on the low point seen in the first quarter of 2009.

Affordability criteria eased slightly for first-time buyers in Scotland, who paid an average deposit of 23% of the value of the property in the first three months of this year. That was the first time since the end of 2008 that the average deposit had been below 25% of the property’s price.

Remortgaging in Scotland continued to decline, as it has in the rest of the UK. In the first three months of the year, there were 7,000 remortgaging loans, worth £700 million, down 22% from the preceding three months and 36% year-on-year.