Summary:
- Gross mortgage lending was £14.1bn in April. This was 3% higher than March but 13% lower than April 2004.
- Seasonally adjusted net mortgage lending (gross lending minus repayments) rose by £4.0bn, the smallest rise since early 2002, compared with £4.6bn in March and £6.0bn in April 2004. This compares with an average of £4.5bn in the previous six months.
- The usual seasonal upturn in mortgage activity saw 191,857 approvals (for all purposes) in April for a total value of £17.2bn. Whilst the number of approvals was 2% higher than March, it was, however, 17% weaker than April 2004. The average approval for house purchase was £122,700.
- Growth in loans and overdrafts (£0.4bn, seasonally adjusted) was slightly stronger than March but lower than the recent monthly average of £0.6bn. Low borrowing on credit cards (for an April) translated into a rare seasonally adjusted fall in April, noticeably weaker than the previous six months’ average.
David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, said: "Whilst growth in net mortgage lending continued to be relatively weak in April, there are signs that the falling trend may be stabilising. Approvals, particularly for house purchase, are responding to the usual Spring stimulus and, although not near the levels of last year, they indicate sufficient activity to support mortgage lending in the near-term. April data also continued the recent pattern of the major banks seeing reduced consumer appetite for credit, particularly on cards."
Mortgage Lending
- April’s gross lending of £14,120mn was higher than March’s total (£13,721mn) but well down on the £16,150mn in April 2004.
- Net mortgage lending rose by £4,030mn, compared with £4,561mn in March. The April rise was much lower than the average of £4,524mn in the previous six months and the annual growth rate consequently declined slightly to 12.7%; the lowest growth rate since February 2002.
- Compared to the same month a year earlier, April’s approvals of house purchase loans were 21% lower by number and 13% lower by value; remortgaging loans were the same by number and 17% higher by value; and equity withdrawal loans were 29% lower by number and 19% lower by value.
Consumer Credit
- New borrowing on credit cards totalled £7,064mn in April. This was well down on the average of the previous six months and, although repayments were also lower, a seasonally adjusted fall in net lending of £40mn resulted compared with recent average growth of £205mn a month.
- New lending on personal loans and overdrafts, at £2,553mn, was slightly lower than both March and the average for the previous six months (£2,953mn). After seasonal adjustment, the rise in net lending of £415mn was considerably lower than the average rise of £569mn over the previous six months.
