Mutuals’ gross lending up 38% year-on-year
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Gross mortgage lending by mutuals was £1.4bn in January, which is 38% greater than the £1bn figure for January 2010.
Mutuals also approved £1.1bn worth of loans in January, up 37% on the £0.8bn approved in the same month last year.
Adrian Coles, director-general of the Building Societies Association, says: “Mortgage lending by mutuals in January was up year on year, although the comparable figure for January last year was depressed, as it followed the termination of the last government’s stamp duty holiday that ceased at the end of 2009.
“On a seasonally adjusted basis, mutuals’ mortgage lending and approvals figures for January were broadly similar to the averages over the preceding six months.”
Furthermore, balances held with mutuals fell by £424m in January 2011, compared to a reduction of £467m in January 2010.
And excluding interest credited to accounts, mutuals had a net withdrawal of £697m in January, down from £741m the previous year.
Coles says: “It is common for savings balances to fall in January as households begin to repay debt accumulated over the Christmas period.
“However, with the prices faced by consumers rising at a rate above the growth of earnings, partly because of the January rise in the VAT rate to 20%, household finances remain stretched, so that for many it is difficult to increase savings.”
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