Mortgage lending weak, says BBA

The British Bankers'' Association (BBA) has revealed that September''s mortgage lending was weak.

According to the organisation, which represents most major banks in the UK, gross mortgage lending stood at £18.5 billion for the month.

Although a high figure, this is only three per cent more than in the same month last year, indicating that the huge housing market growth experienced recently is beginning to slow.

David Dooks, director of statistics at the BBA, commented: "Lower amounts of new mortgage lending and fewer loans approved for house purchase signal a weaker outlook for the mortgage market."

He added that this would be exacerbated if the recent credit crunch reduces the level of loan supply.

In response to these figures, David Stubbs of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors predicted that the market would continue to weaken into 2008.

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