Mortgage lending depressed in January, says BBA

Tuesday, 23 February 2010 11:50

By myfinances.co.uk staff

The latest mortgage lending figures from the British Bankers Association (BBA) have confirmed the downturn in January recorded by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) last week.

The BBA said this morning that mortgage lending in January was relatively weak, showing a reaction to an inflated December market and the adverse weather conditions which impacted on activity.

Mortgage lending by banks in January was £2.7 billion compared to £3.3 billion in December, the BBA said. But the figure was roughly in line with the average for the previous six months of £2.9 billion of lending.

Consumer credit also declined further down to £0.3 billion in January from £0.4 billion in December.

BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said the depressed January figure came as no surprise give the number of transactions the previous when borrowers were attempting to secure the purchase of their new properties ahead of the end of the stamp duty holiday.

He said the figures illustrated nothing more than a "natural reaction" to the previous month's hectic activity and the bad weather in January.

"After the Christmas period, demand for consumer credit was weaker in January, as people shied away, or were discouraged by the weather, from retail spending and held on to their deposits," he added.

• Tags:
• mortgage levels and takeup
,
• news