Number of mortgage approvals in the UK 2012-2024, by loan type

The total monthly number of mortgage approvals for the purpose of a house sale in the UK plummeted in 2020 during the COVID-10 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 declined. In 2024, mortgage approvals for home purchases started to increase, while remortgage approvals continued to fluctuate.

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, contracts exchange, and closing.