Banks' gross lending drops 7.6% in August
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Gross mortgage lending by banks was 7.6% lower than a year ago at £8.1bn, the British Bankers Association reports.
In July gross lending was £8.4bn with the average for the previous six months standing at £8.6bn.
Net mortgage lending at banks grew by 4.1% compared to last year and stands at £2.5bn.
Approvals for house purchase loans dropped from £5bn in July to £4.7bn in August.
And the average value of house purchase approvals, £143,500, fell again in August but was still some 3.8% higher than a year ago.
The numbers of remortgage approvals has been slightly stronger in the last two months while those for equity withdrawal have remained at similar levels to July and the previous six months average.
David Dooks, statistics director at the BBA, says: “Demand for mortgages continues to be weak despite more properties reportedly coming on to the market. Even with stable or falling house prices the current economic climate makes it unlikely that demand will pick up in the near future.”
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