UK mortgage lending at four-year high amid rush to avoid stamp duty rise

Stamp duty discounts on house purchases became less generous from 1 April, with the ‘nil rate’ band for first-time buyers falling from £425,000 to £300,000. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

A rush to get property purchases over the line before last month’s stamp duty rise pushed UK mortgage lending to a four-year high in March, official data shows.

Bank of England figures show that the then-imminent changes to stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland triggered a 290% surge in mortgage borrowing. Separately, Lloyds Banking Group, one of Britain’s biggest home loan providers, reported that 27 March was its busiest day ever for mortgage lending.