Bank mortgage approvals down 52%

Monday, 26 January, 2009

The number of new mortgages for house buyers approved by the UK's banks fell last year by 52%.

The British Bankers Association (BBA) said the number of these approvals went up from 17,000 in November to 22,000 last month.

However, this was still 47% down on December 2007.

The BBA said the December rise did not suggest a real recovery in lending and was "more likely to reflect delayed activity from November".

"The banks approved less than half the 2007 number of loans for house purchase, reflecting falling demand from households facing greater economic uncertainty and double-digit falls in house prices over the year, which led to a wait-and-see mentality," said David Dooks of the BBA.

Source:

News.bbc.co.uk