“A drop in borrowing at the start of the year is not entirely unexpected after such a strong finish to 2025 and isn’t cause for alarm.

While there’s no doubt that households are still feeling the economic squeeze and uncertainty is affecting confidence, there are positive signs for the housing and mortgage market, with more product choice and improving affordability.

Mortgage pricing will be pivotal to activity in the coming months and that will depend on what happens with the Bank of England base rate. While inflation did seem to be slowly heading in the right direction, conflict escalation in the Middle East will once again bring global economics more directly into play and could put pressure on a recovering UK market and have a knock-on effect on UK consumers and businesses alike.”