Mortgage Lending Increase in March 2009

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has reported that mortgage lending increased significantly in March 2009 over February.  31,000 home loans were approved which is almost a 30% increase on the previous month.  However, the figure still represents a third fall in lending year on year.  The Bank of England has recently released supporting evidence to show that approvals were increasing.

The statistics come at a time of mixed messages regarding the stability of house prices, buit many will take the increased lending and borrowing as a sign that the rate of decline has started to slow.

The CML did warn however, that unless a borrower is able to get a significant deposit together, then attaining a mortgage would be difficult as high LTV % still dominate the mortgage market.

Bob Parnell, Head of Research at the CML commented "Because the flow of lending is still constrained, there is a sharp dividing line in the housing and mortgage markets between those who can raise a substantial deposit and those who can't,"