CML could cut its lending estimate for 2010 if business remains slow
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The Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned that it may lower its mortgage lending forecast in the summer if lending does not pick up.
The CML revealed its intentions after seeing the latest set of lending figures from the Bank of England.
The Bank’s figures show there were 49,871 mortgage approvals in April, up from 49,008 in March but below the previous six-month average of 53,098.
Net lending was £500m in April but was below the previous six-month average of £1.3bn.
The CML is predicting gross lending of £150bn this year and net lending of £15bn.
Michael Coogan, director-gene-ral of the CML, says: “Now we have seen the mortgage approvals data for the first four months of the year it is clear that the risks associated with our lending forecast for 2010 are on the downside.”
The announcement comes as estate agents are seeing a significant jump in the number of properties coming onto the market following the scrapping of Home Information Packs.
Countrywide has seen a 34% rise in the number of properties coming to market - a 68% increase compared with the same week last year.
This takes the number of new properties to levels not seen since September 2007, the month HIPs were extended to cover three-bedroom properties.
Connells Survey and Valuation also saw valuation activity in May increase by more than a quarter compared with the same month last year.
The number of valuations con-ducted rose by more than 10% compared with April and by 27% compared with May 2009. This is the highest annual change since the company started compiling its index five years ago.
Last week data from the Land Registry’s April House Price Index showed an annual increase of 8.5%. This is the sixth consecutive month the figure has been in positive territory, and takes the average property value in England and Wales to £165,596.
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