Building societies boost mortgage lending
Thursday, 29 September 2011 12:00 AM
Mutually-owned lenders approved £2.1 billion of mortgages in August, the highest level for 11 months, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA).
The figure was up 10 per cent on July and 17 per cent on a year ago and is part of a sustained increase this year. Approvals in the first eight months of 2011 are up 16 per cent on 2010.
Adrian Coles, director-general of the BSA, said: “Lending by mutuals has held up well over the summer months, and in August gross lending reached an 11-month high. Approval figures continue to look promising as consumers take advantage of the competitive mortgage rates currently offered by mutuals.
“However, the outlook for the economy has deteriorated over the past month as has consumer confidence, which could well spill into the housing market, causing further weakness.”
Meanwhile, figures out from the Bank of England today shows that mortgage approvals by all lenders rose 5.6 per cent in August to 52,410.
Lending secured on dwellings rose by £0.6 billion, which was in line with the previous six-month average increase. However, the three-month annualised growth rate slipped back 0.1 percentage points to 0.4 per cent and the 12-month growth rate fell 0.1 points to 0.6 per cent.
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