NEWS
Mortgage lending in the UK fell 3% in June, latest data shows
20-07-2012
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Gross lending for the second quarter of 2012 was therefore an estimated £34.2 billion, a 2% increase from the first three months of this year when it was £33.6 billion and a 3% increase from the second quarter of 2011 when it was £33.3 billion.
Lending in the first half of this year totalled £67.9 billion, some 7% higher than the first six months of 2011 when it was £63.7 billion.
‘Mortgage lending has experienced something of a see saw pattern over recent months, largely reflecting the short term spike and subsequent trough in house purchase activity associated with the ending of the stamp duty concession for first time buyers in late March,’ said CML chief economist Bob Pannell.
‘Weaker mortgage lending in June points to a more subdued tone for the housing market in line with that for the wider economy,’ he added.
But he pointed out that the recent launch of the funding for lending scheme (FLS) comes at a time when credibility in further quantitative easing had started to wane. ‘FLS will help guard against a contraction in lending over the next 18 months and, if the external environment is sufficiently supportive, should underpin the housing market and support the government’s wider growth agenda,’ he explained.
