Mortgage approvals for house purchases were down 4.9% in April 2025 to 60,463, marking the four consecutive months of decline according to data from the Bank of England.

Approvals are also 2.1% lower than the 61,740 seen in April 2024.

Stephanie Daley, Director of Partnerships at mortgage advisor at Alexander Hall, said: “The marginal monthly decline in approval volumes is simply a case of the market resetting in the run up to, and immediately following, the stamp duty deadline at the end of March and won’t derail the momentum that has been building consistently over the last 12 months. 

“Whilst the Bank of England is largely expected to hold interest rates this month, this is unlikely to dampen the enthusiasm of the nation’s homebuyers, who are now acting with far greater confidence since interest rates have been trending downwards, following the suit of many lenders who have re-introduced sub 4% rates for the first time in a long time.” 

Jonathan Samuels, CEO of specialist lender Octane Capital, said: “A month on month reduction in mortgage approvals was always on the cards in April, as the market paused for breath following a period of heightened activity driven by the rush to beat another stamp duty deadline. 

“However, we’ve since seen a surge of buyer activity from those who have been waiting for the dust to settle and this renewed activity has only intensified since the Bank of England cut interest rates to 4.25% at the beginning of May.”