The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £20.4 billion in December. This is four per cent lower than November (£21.2 billion), and four per cent higher than December 2015 (£19.7 billion). This brings the estimated total for the year to £246 billion, a 12 per cent increase on 2015’s £220 billion and the highest annual gross lending figure since 2008.
Gross mortgage lending for the fourth quarter of 2016 was therefore an estimated £62 billion. This is a three per cent decrease on the third quarter and closely matches the 61.8 billion lent in the fourth quarter of 2015.