In Focus: When Clients' Plans Change  

Mortgage arrears fall to lowest level since mid-2000s

Its two-year fixed 80 per cent LTV product with £1,499 (£199 upfront) fees was reduced from 2 per cent to 1.3 per cent, while the building society cut the rates of two and five-year fixed products - all available for purchase or remortgage - at 85 per cent and 95 per cent loan-to-value.

Meanwhile, mortgage approvals are also still high and likely to remain so for much of 2022.

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Kimberley Gates, head of corporate partnerships at Sirius Property Finance, commented: "The stamp duty holiday helped spur a huge flurry of homebuyer activity for much of 2021 and so a steady decline in mortgage approvals was always likely to materialise following the final September deadline. 

"However, this decline should be viewed as a return to pre-pandemic normality rather than a sign of dwindling health and the market continues to defy expectation and exceed industry forecasts where top-line performance is concerned."

She said while 2022 was "unlikely" to bring the same frantic market conditions as the last year, Sirius does not expect there to be a significant reduction in buyer demand and therefore any further notable decline in mortgage approval levels.

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com