CML: Mortgage lending fell in August

Date:Wednesday 15th October 2008
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Lending for house purchases suffered a 63 per cent drop in the year to August, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said.

Data released by the organisation showed the fall for August compared to the same month in 2007.

Gross lending fell by 20 per cent from July and 42 per cent from a year before to £19.7 billion.

The number and value of mortgage loans were the lowest since the CML started gathering the information in 2002.

A total of 26,600 loans to home movers were given, worth £4.1 billion.

This represents falls of 61 per cent and 64 per cent in numbers and values from August 2007 respectively.

Furthermore, remortages fell by 20 per cent in volume and nine per cent in value in the same period.

Responding to the figures, Melanie Bien of mortgage broker Savills Private Finance, told the Independent that the best deals available are for people with substantial deposits or equity in their homes.

According to the BBC, Fionnuala Earley, chief economist at Nationwide, says prices are dropping more quickly now than in the early 1990s.