Mortgage lending stays flat at end of 2011

Mortgages and Home

Updated on 04 January 2012 | 0 Comments

New figures show number of approvals broadly the same in November as they were in October.

Mortgage lending continues to be flat, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England.

There were just 68 more mortgages approved for new purchases in November than in October, although the monthly total of 52,854 approvals is the highest since December 2009.

Meanwhile, the number of approved remortgages was down from 34,004 in October to 31,154 in November.

This indicates that lenders are still imposing strict requirements on borrowers looking for a mortgage.

However, figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) showed that building societies and other mutuals lent 24% more in November than they had 12 months earlier. The BSA says this is in part due to building societies offering more mortgages requiring lower deposits compared to other lenders.

Overall, mortgage lending is currently half its pre-financial crisis average.

The Bank of England figures also showed that we’re paying more off our mortgages, with repayments up to £11.6 billion, an increase on the previous six-month average of £11.2 billion.

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More: 5 ways to cut your mortgage costs in 2012 | What 2012 has in store for house prices

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