However, for those looking to beat the forthcoming holiday cut-off, there are some lenders who could help consumers squeeze their application approval in the remaining few weeks.
Trussle said HSBC has become the fastest UK lender for mortgage approval times, with a median approval time of just 10 days in November. It added that Barclays had previously been the fastest lender with an average approval time of 10 days during September 2020, but processing times have now risen to 19 days.
The average mortgage approval time for HSBC has been reduced from 19 days in September to only 10 in November.
The online broker said the five lenders with the fastest median approval times in November 2020 were –
1. HSBC – 10 days 2. BM Solutions – 13 days 3. Halifax – 14 days 4. Accord – 14 days 5. Barclays – 19 days
The time to approve mortgages has increased significantly with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this year, Trussle’s data found that the average time from mortgage submission to approval had increased by 120% since November 2019 (from 10 days to 22 days).
In addition, the stamp duty holiday has created unprecedented levels of demand in mortgage applications and Trussle calculated that property completion times had risen to around 115 days in the UK, in line with predictions provided by other industry experts.
Miles Robinson, head of mortgages at Trussle, said: “2020 has been a tough year for everyone and lenders are certainly not immune from the pressure. The strains of adapting processes during the pandemic coupled with increased demand have seen many wait times extend to unprecedented levels.
“Mortgage approval times are extremely important to the wider process of purchasing a property. And as many race to beat the stamp duty deadline, securing a mortgage is quickly becoming imperative to saving up to £15,000.
“While it’s understandable for lenders to be under increased pressure, it’s encouraging to see HSBC bucking the trend and we’re hopeful that things will start to return to normality as we head into 2021 and the hopeful era of COVID vaccination.”
