Mortgage lending at 16-year low
The number of mortgages awarded for houses has dropped to its lowest level since September 1992, figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show.
The body's figures revealed there were just 49,000 mortgages granted in February and loans of house purchases made up only 30% of all mortgage-lending.
The figures represent a 3.5% fall on the figure for January and a 33% decline on the same month in 2007, as the reluctance of banks to take on more debt and fears of the long-term stability of the housing market among buyers took their toll.
"There has been consistent evidence of tightening in lending criteria which will lead to shrinking pipelines of new business as the recent Bank of England;s credit condition survey made clear," said Michael Coogan, director general of the CML.
"We expect this process of further tightening in lending criteria to continue in the second quarter as lenders respond to the challenging market conditions."
Post Date: April 9th, 2008