Mortgage lending still high

Posted: 20 Sep 2007 10:59:09 GMT

Gross mortgage lending figures fell slightly in August but demand remains high, according to the latest figures.

Gross mortgage lending figures fell slightly in August but demand remains high, according to the latest figures.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has published figures for the month which show that an annual fall of three per cent and a month-on-month drop of six per cent.

The figures take into account mortgage lending by banks building societies and specialist lenders.

Although there was a fall in the amount of money lent, CML points out that the mortgage market remains healthy but is feeling the effects of some lenders who have tightened their lending criteria in response to turmoil in the financial markets.

"Lending fell slightly in August, but was still at very high levels. We see no obvious decline in consumer demand, although some decrease in the supply of lending is being experienced in the short term as a result of the problems lenders face in raising wholesale funding," said Michael Coogan, director general of the CML.

Mr Coogan went on to warn borrowers that they should not expect the Bank of England to cut the base rate of interest despite some analysts predicting a fall before the end of the year.

"It makes sense for consumers to continue to plan for rates at or about their current levels for the foreseeable future - we are not out of the woods yet," he added.

© Houseladder Ltd