CML: Mortgage lending hit new low in January

Date:Thursday 19th February 2009
Author: Rachel Fletcher

Mortgage lending slipped to a new low last month, new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has shown.

According to the CML's data, gross lending in January was 52 per cent lower than in the same month in 2008, dropping to £12.4 billion.

This is the lowest level seen since April 2001 and represented a fall of 8.4 per cent compared to December's figure.

CML's head of research, Bob Pannell, warned that it will be a while before gross lending revives.

"Mortgage lending activity continues to be very weak and while people are searching eagerly for some signs of recovery, it would be unrealistic to expect a meaningful revival in lending in coming months. Even when conditions do improve, gross lending will be one of the later measures to recover," he said.

Last week, the CML reported that 516,000 house purchase loans had been made in 2008.

This was a drop of 49 per cent compared to 2007's statistic.