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Mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased in August

ended 29. September 2026

Net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased to 54,900 in August, below an average of around 60,100 over the previous 6 months, Bank of England data said.

Approvals for remortgaging decreased to 34,000 in August, from 34,600 in July.

  • Are you seeing a downturn in mortgage business?
  • Why are approvals going down?
  • What does it say about the market?

Responses asap.

12 responses from the Newspage community

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Tony SanchezVerified
Founder at Bridging Loan Directory
For a developer, a buyer struggling to secure a mortgage can mean a completed home sits unsold, interest continues to accrue and capital remains tied up instead of funding the next project.

BLD has reported on developers whose onward purchases are waiting for existing homes to sell, alongside borrowers facing a gap between the mortgage available and the amount needed to repay bridging finance.

The picture is not uniform. Hampshire Trust Bank has told us sales as a proportion of completed stock are improving across its development finance book. That is a useful counterpoint to the weaker national approvals figures.

These numbers cannot tell us why individual transactions stalled. The practical question is where the delay sits: finding a buyer, securing an affordable mortgage or getting an agreed purchase through to completion. Each creates a different problem for the borrower and lender.
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Jamie ElvinVerified
Director at Strive Mortgages
August’s fall in approvals looks less like buyers giving up and more like buyers doing the maths. When mortgage rates rise, the same home comes with a higher monthly payment, and some people will pause, lower their budget or stay put. “We’re still seeing people who want to move, but they’re more careful about what they can comfortably afford. That affects remortgages too: some borrowers may choose a new deal with their existing lender, which would not appear in the figures for remortgaging with a different lender. “One month does not tell us where the housing market is heading, but it does show how quickly higher borrowing costs can take the momentum out of it.
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Michelle LawsonVerified
Director at Lawson Financial
August is a traditionally quieter month due to the holiday period. However, with interest rates going through the roof and pre-Budget speculation about changes to the housing market people will naturally hold off for more detail. There is activity however we are seeing buyers favour vacant properties due to the complexities of being in a chain now so this won't help shift the properties at the upper end. Also, with yesterday's announcement of £18.3m lost in failed property transactions from April to June 2026 alone, there is a greater question of why and how to deal with the root cause of this.
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Justin MoyVerified
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
An inevitable situation, with family holidays shifting focus away from home moves and mortgage rates rising, amid a multitude of threats to our economy and inflationary pressures on the horizon. The property market is flat, if not receding; first-time buyers are more cautious about what they buy, and home movers are aghast at moving costs. Downsizers have no financial incentive, so everything eventually grinds to a halt. Government intervention has to benefit all types of buyers, not just FTBs and new-build developers, so changes to Stamp Duty will be more market-friendly and help everyone.
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Harry GoodliffeVerified
Director at HTG Mortgages
No one would want to buy a house when they’re worried about keeping their job.

That is what this drop is really telling us. People can still get a mortgage; they just don’t trust the country they are borrowing in. Taxes are up, growth is nothing, and every month brings another Government hint about what property owners could face next, so most buyers are sitting tight until the economy settles down. You can’t tax and dither your way to a confident housing market. I expect a slow, nervous Autumn and I'm really not sure Westminster has the means to fix it. Speculation will only continue to build until the October budget.
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Craig FishVerified
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
I've been busier than ever, but much of that is remortgages. Purchase approvals dropped to 54,900 in August, from 55,900 in July and below the six-month average of around 60,100, because there is a disconnect between what sellers want for their property and what buyers are willing to pay. A house is only worth what a buyer will pay for it, and plenty of sellers haven't accepted that yet. Buyers won't stretch to those asking prices with the effective rate on new mortgages up to 4.60% in August from 4.45% in July, so sales are falling apart over price before a mortgage application is even made. What it says about the market is that it's stuck, and it will stay stuck until sellers price their homes at a level buyers can afford. Until then, purchase numbers will remain low and remortgaging will keep brokers busy. The Bank's remortgage figure of 34,000 also only counts people switching lender, so a lot of the remortgage work I'm doing doesn't show up in it.
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Tracey DixonVerified
Buy-to-Let Mortgage Specialist & Owner at Pure Mortgage and Protection
I’m still seeing people who want to buy, but affordability is making it harder for some to move from viewing properties to getting a mortgage approved. Existing debts, changing income and lenders’ different criteria can all affect how much someone can borrow.

I wouldn’t read one month’s fall as proof that the housing market has stalled. To me, it shows that buyers need to understand their borrowing position early, before they commit to a purchase.

“Buyers haven’t disappeared, but affordability is deciding who can move forward. Wanting to buy and being able to pass a lender’s checks are two different things.
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Adam StilesVerified
Managing Director at Helix Financial Partners
Mortgage approvals dropping is not a surprise when looking at the current market of high volatility and upward rate increases. 2026 has been a tough market for purchases and this continues to be the case until we see more stability and rates come back down.
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Richard DavidsonVerified
Mortgage Advisor at onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk
Yes, it has gone quieter, but the demand hasn't gone anywhere, it's just waiting. With the average rate on new mortgages rising to 4.6% in August and no clear sense of where it heads next, a lot of buyers are sitting on their hands, and a new Prime Minister with a Budget on the horizon always makes people stop and take stock before committing to something this big.

What buyers and the industry crave more than anything is stability, and the moment people get a clear sense of direction, I expect that pent up demand to come back quickly. For those ready to move now, a quieter market is exactly when buyers have more room to negotiate on price, so waiting for perfect certainty could mean missing the better deal.
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Matt CoulsonVerified
Founder at Heron Financial
A dip of a thousand approvals is a market grinding slower, with both purchases and remortgaging now running below their six-month average. That points to demand that's being held back. Two things are doing it. The monthly cost of a mortgage is still stretched after the recent round of rate rises, so buyers can get the loan but hesitate at the payment. And with the Budget close, a lot of people are waiting to see what lands before they commit, on both stamp duty and the new first-time buyer scheme. Remortgaging slipping is the notable part, because that had been holding up while moves stalled. When even remortgage numbers ease, it suggests some borrowers are taking their lender's own product transfer and staying put in a rising market. None of it shifts properly until rates ease or the Budget gives people something firm to plan around.
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Elliott CulleyVerified
Director at Switch Mortgage Finance
It's no surprise to see mortgage approvals down. The market is extremely slow at the moment as first time buyers hold off due to rising interest rates and an uncertainty over the economy.
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Doug MillerVerified
Bath Mortgage Broker and Director at Lansdown Financial Services
August’s figures tell only half the story, the mortgage market has already moved on. Whilst August showed the typical summer slowdown, September has been a completely different story, with enquiries bouncing back strongly.

Approvals are likely being held back by a combination of summer seasonality, affordability pressures and borrowers remaining extremely sensitive to mortgage pricing. Even relatively small changes in rates can make a noticeable difference to monthly repayments and confidence.

The real pressure is in the remortgage market. Thousands of borrowers are now coming off ultra-low five-year fixes and facing a painful jump in monthly repayments, often by hundreds of pounds.

These figures suggest the market is still fragile rather than fundamentally weak. There is demand there, but borrowers are cautious and value-conscious.

With mortgage rates edging higher again, anyone nearing the end of a fixed deal should start reviewing their options early. Seeking advice is crucial.