Mortgage approvals remained static in September
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The number of mortgage approvals for house purchase remained static at 47,474 in September, compared to 47,498 in August, the latest figures from the Bank of England show.
The number of approvals were lower than the previous six-month average 48,764.
There were 28,903 approvals for remortgaging, higher than August’s 28,390 and higher than the previous six-month average 27,067.
There were 23,279 approvals for other purposes in September, lower than the 23, 96 in August.
Net lending secured on dwellings rose by £0.1bn in September, below the August increase of £1.6bn and the previous six-month average of £0.5bn.
The twelve-month growth rate decreased slightly to 0.8% and the three-month annualised growth rate decreased 0.2% to 0.4%.
Paul Diggle, property economist at Capital Economics, says: “The latest small fall in mortgage approvals reinforces the picture of a severely depressed lending market.
“We do not expect mortgage market activity to recover to anything like prerecession levels for an extended period, and a further contraction in activity may be on the cards. Evidence of a fresh tightening in lending standards by banks will further restrict supply, while renewed falls in house prices will suppress demand.
“The mortgage drought has a way to run yet.”
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