We've been getting mixed signals recently about the health of the mortgage and residential construction sector, however it appears the mortgage industry is getting back to where it should be – something that should put all our minds at rest in the construction industry.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, home lending rather than remortgaging lead the mortgage industry with increases of 6%.

New lending is of course good news for the construction industry who often get on the property ladder through new build initiatives or deals, but we need to keep an eye on the remortgaging side of things that grew more slowly (going only 4% on the previous month compared to 7% for first time buyer loans).

Remortgages was down 8% June 2013 which could have a knock on impact further down the line for new builds and the construction industry, especially when householders are looking to downsize – often more economical smaller and better insulated homes are the first port of call.

Buy To Let mortgages also grew, however recent figures have suggested that landlords are less inclined to carry out remedial work on their rented properties than they would have been before the recession.

Paul Smee, director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders said ‘We now feel confident that, as we would hope, the new MMR lending rules effect is more gentle dampener than hard brake. As we recently suggested in our revised forecasts, lending levels should continue to increase modestly over the course of the year, driven mostly by house purchase but with remortgaging also recovering,’ he explained.