October 24, 20205 yr Financial Times: Quote Banks are turning away mortgage business by increasing interest rates on many new home loans, as they struggle to cope with surging demand for borrowing in a buoyant post-lockdown housing market. In a reversal of the cut-throat competition of recent years, lenders are putting up rates to deter potential borrowers, as coronavirus restrictions have left many staff working from home, limiting their capacity to process applications. A temporary stamp duty holiday that offers purchasers a tax saving of up to £15,000 has fuelled a V-shaped recovery in the housing market since May. Buyers are hurrying to progress deals now so they can complete before the nine-month holiday ends on March 31 2021. An executive at one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders said on some days recently it had been receiving more than double the number of mortgage applications it would normally be able to process. “This is as busy as I’ve seen the market since 2008, just before the credit crunch,” the executive said. “Post-lockdown, in late May to June, we were busy, heading back towards [normal] numbers, but the stamp duty change, when that dropped, put a massive urgency into buying a home.” https://www.ft.com/content/90c22b17-7f0c-4dfa-b582-419b8ef93d7d
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