Mortgage lending falls for fifth consecutive month

The latest figures from the British Banking Association (BBA) have revealed that mortgage lending has fallen for the fifth successive month and the market value for mortgages is down for the second year in a row.

The BBA said that gross mortgage lending in October, which stood at £15.1 billion, was £1.2 billion lower than September, and 15.2% lower than the October 2003 figure of £17.8 billion.

However, the seasonally adjusted rise in net lending (gross lending minus repayments), at £4.4 billion remained very similar to the underlying rises in August and September suggesting little underlying change in demand.

While there were 181,150 loans approved in October, with a total value of £15 billion, the numbers of loan approvals were 7% down on September and 33% weaker than October 2003.

David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, said: "The weakening demand for both mortgage lending and consumer credit seen over the last few months continued in October and weak approvals data suggest that this pattern will be maintained in the short-term. With mortgage lending volumes slowing it is not surprising that competition among lenders is intensifying and at the same time, borrowers are looking to reduce their borrowing costs. As a result, re-mortgaging is holding up and accounted for a high 39% of all approvals in October."

The number of loans approved for house purchase was 1.5% lower than September and 35% lower than October 2003. Approvals for equity withdrawal were much weaker in October but remortgaging held up. The average approval for house purchase rose to £113,100, after falling in each of the last three months.

The BBA reported that growth in overall net consumer credit of £600 million (seasonally adjusted) dipped again in October in line with weakening retail sales.

Slower growth in other loans and advances £300 million was well down on the monthly average of £500 million, and although demand for credit card borrowing rose in comparison with September, it was still weaker than the previous six months' average.

(SP/GMCG)