Mortgage lending 'fell in January'

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 12:45:32 GMT

Gross mortgage lending experienced a 32 per cent fall between January 2009 and January 2010, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

New figures from the organisation indicate that while such lending totalled £13.4 billion last year, it declined to £9.7 billion 12 months later.

Paul Samter, chief economist at the CML, commented that the housing market remains in a "period of uncertainty", although the new year started off "in better shape" than had previously been anticipated.

But he noted that a "larger than usual seasonal drop-off in activity" could take place in the coming months thanks to the end of the stamp duty holiday.

Despite this, he predicted that low interest rates from the Bank of England could help to ease payment problems faced by some people with mortgages in the coming months and to limit the impact of the recession on property owners.

The CML noted that the stamp duty holiday was one of the main drivers behind an increase in the number of loans to first-time buyers in December 2009.

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