UK mortgage lending at 2 year high, but below historical average -UPDATE

Date: Tuesday 31 Jan 2012

Mortgage approvals rose to a 24-month high in December, according to the Bank of England, but experts were quick to point out lending remains historically low.

The number of home loans given out edged up to 52,939 in December from 52,628 in November.

Mortgage approvals have hovered around 52,000 for four months now.

Net mortgage lending rose by £0.7bn in December, almost unchanged from the £0.6bn figure in November.

Dr Howard Archer, Chief UK Economist at IHS, said even in December mortgage approvals were still substantially below the average monthly level of around 88,000 seen since 1993.

"A level of 70,000-80,000 has in the past been considered consistent with stable house prices," he said.

Archer said that housing market activity would struggle in 2012, citing Hometrack’s January survey released earlier this week, which showed the number of new buyers registering with agents falling by 10.5% and agreed new sales down by 14.3%.

The Bank of England's figures also showed a sharp drop in unsecured lending to consumers in December.

It reported a net repayment of £0.4bn in unsecured consumer credit in December, the largest such repayment since records began in 1993.

Net borrowing on credit cards was flat with the repayments coming through other loans and advances.

Economists at Barclays said the December data continued to indicate weak lending flows, a picture that has been broadly the same since the onset of the financial crisis.

"In the face of the current stagnant economic outlook we do not expect a turning point in lending activity in the coming months, but expect a continuation of the current weak but broadly stable performance," they said.

MM

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