Mortgage market "robust"

The mortgage market is holding up better than expected, a banking expert has said.

Speaking after the Bank of England (BoE) published October''s lending and borrowing figures, Sue Anderson of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said that she did not perceive the drama forecast by some commentators.

The BoE reported an increase in total net lending that was below September''s and also below the previous six-month average at £8.8 billion.

Ms Anderson said there was normally a slowdown at this time of year and the slight fall was nothing out of the ordinary.

"What we''re seeing from the BoE''s statement out today is a far less dramatic reduction in approvals than the preliminary surveys, such as the British Bankers'' Association, had shown," she explained.

She added that this was fairly positive because it showed that lending was holding up better than some had predicted.

CML members make up about 98 per cent of UK residential mortgage lending.

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