Latest mortgage lending figures from the Bank of England show that in June 2002 63,726 mortgages were approved.

This is down 3% compared to May 2022 and down by 21% compared to June 2021.

Industry reaction to the BoE data:

Jason Tebb, CEO of OnTheMarket:

“Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased in June compared with the previous month but remains above the 12-month pre-pandemic average.

“Meanwhile, approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, also decreased slightly and are below the 12-month pre-pandemic average.

“As more stock becomes available, the subtle rebalancing of the market continues.

“This is yet more evidence of a ‘new normal’, an elevated version of the pre-pandemic market, as, despite serious headwinds, committed property seekers remain determined to move.”

Anthony Codling, CEo at Twindig:

“In June mortgage approvals fell for the fifth month in a row to 63,726 down 13% from the 73,220 approvals we saw in January.

“Mortgage approvals are the most important lead indicator for the UK housing market, in our view, and with a run of five reductions in mortgage approval activity, it is probably fair to say that the UK housing market is softening.

“We choose our words carefully, we are not seeing a ‘crash’, but we have now had five consecutive months of low to mid-single digit falls in mortgage approvals and they are now slightly below the 10-year average of 66,555.

“It seems to us that we are currently on a glide path to a more normal level of housing market activity following a frenetic two-year period punctuated by working from home, races for space and stamp duty holidays.

“The cost of living and rising interest rates will no doubt be playing on homebuyers’ and home movers’ minds, but as we reported in our report, ‘What does the cost of living crisis mean for house prices?’ those in a position to move are currently shielded from the cost of living crisis by savings and high levels of discretionary spending, both of which could be diverted to housing.

“We suspect that the current softening reflects the fact that around 50% of moves are discretionary and some are taking a wait-and-see approach in the face of continued economic uncertainty and rising costs.

“In summary, housing activity levels falling, but returning to a more normal market rather than falling out of bed.”

Paul McGerrigan, CEO at fintech broker Loan.co.uk:

“There are strong signs the overheated property market is cooling after its hottest period in some time.

“Mortgage borrowing saw a marked drop in June, down to £5.3bn from £8bn the previous month.

“Another key indicator of the market settling is the consistent decline of mortgage approvals, in June this sat at 63,700, which has steadily ticked down from 73,800 in January.

“Sustained financial pressure on households is steadily having an impact and it seems we have reached a point where interest rates and future financial concerns are dampening demand. That said, we also have to acknowledge that 2021’s figures were artificially inflated with the government incentives put in place as we emerged from COVID.”