Mortgage approvals fell by 4.6% in the first three months of the year compared to the previous quarter, data from Octane Capital shows.  

The specialist lender says the number of mortgages that were approved slipped to 136,023 in the first quarter.  

But it adds that this is substantially less following September’s mini-Budget, when approval numbers slumped by 29.2% between the third and final quarter of 2022.  

However, the number of mortgage approvals seen in the first three months of this year is 36.3% lower when compared to the same period a year ago.  

The lender obtained its data from analysis of the most recent quarterly Bank of England mortgage approval data, combined with the monetary value of these approvals.  

It finds that the £29.4bn lent in the first three months of this year is 6.7% below lending in the final quarter of 2022 and 41.5% down on a year ago.   

The average sum lent to the nation’s homebuyers sat at £216,147 during the first quarter of this year, which is a 2.2% quarterly fall and 8.1% lower compared to the same period 12 months ago.     

Octane Capital chief executive Jonathan Samuels says: “While the property market had been showing gradual signs of cooling over the last year, this certainly culminated with a significant reduction in market activity following September’s shambolic mini-Budget as mortgage approval levels dipped by almost a third in a single quarter.   

“Unfortunately, while stability may have returned to some degree, the level of buyer activity seen during the open stages of this year is yet to rebound and we’ve seen a further, albeit far more marginal, reduction in approval numbers.   

“With the Bank of England choosing to increase interest rates for a 12th consecutive time this month, it’s unlikely that we will see any notable uplift anytime soon and while we don’t anticipate a market collapse, the result is likely to be a far more subdued outlook for the year ahead.”