- Gross mortgage lending was £17.5bn in October. Though slightly lower than September this was the second highest monthly total since July 2004 and 16% higher than October 2004.
- Seasonally adjusted net mortgage lending (gross lending minus repayments and redemptions) rose by £4.2bn, compared with £4.7bn in September and £4.4bn in October 2004. Though lower than September this was only slightly down on the average of £4.4bn over the previous six months.
- There were 193,731 mortgage approvals (for all purposes) in October, with a total value of £18.8bn. The number of approvals was 3% lower than September 2005 but 7% higher than October 2004. The average approval for house purchase fell to £129,500.
- Net lending on loans and overdrafts rose by £0.4bn (having risen by £0.3bn in September) in line with the average increase over the previous six months. Net lending on credit cards rose by £0.2bn, slightly stronger than the average increase of £0.1bn in the previous six months.
David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, said:
"At this time last year, the trend in net mortgage lending was on a clear downward path. Having stabilised in the Spring, the trend has hardly moved since, but with gross lending and approvals, particularly for house purchase, now seeing higher levels than corresponding months in 2004, the mortgage market seems particularly resilient as we enter what is usually a period of lower demand.
There is little sign of a significant change in unsecured credit sentiment. Despite some reports of improving retail sales volumes, consumer credit remains relatively subdued."
Mortgage Lending
-September’s gross lending of £17,509mn was 1.7% lower than September’s total of £17,817mn, but 15.7% higher than the £15,133mn in October 2004.
-Seasonally adjusted net mortgage lending rose by £4,220mn, compared with £4,710mn in September. The increase in October was slightly weaker than the average of +£4,361mn in the previous six months, producing an annual growth rate just below 12%.
-Compared to the same month a year earlier, October’s approvals of house purchase loans were 23% higher by number and 40% higher by value; remortgaging loans were 2% lower by number but 14% higher by value; and equity withdrawal loans were 1% higher by number and 9% higher by value.
Consumer Credit
- New borrowing on credit cards totalled £7,320mn in October. This was 2% lower than the previous month and repayments were 3% higher; however after seasonal adjustment the increase in net lending of £243mn compared with a recent average increase of +£98mn.
- New lending on personal loans and overdrafts was slightly higher than the average for the previous six months, at £3,105mn, and after seasonal adjustment, there was a rise in net lending of £437mn.
