Charlene Young, senior pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell, said: “The property market and house prices have started to struggle in the face of falls in consumer confidence, rising unemployment and an energy price cap hike in the offing.
“Net mortgage lending was down in April to £4.4 billion, from £6.8 billion in March and below the £5.1 billion average over the last six months.
“But there is a glimmer of hope, as April’s approval figures saw another increase to 65,900, above both the 64,000 seen in March and the six-month average of 63,100.
“This increase in future lending prospects will be down buyers looking to lock in deals as mortgage costs rise. April saw the effective rate on new lending start to creep up, to 4.08 per cent from 4.03 per cent in March.”
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