November's gross mortgage lending was a record at £21.4b, some 13% higher than October's figure and 19% higher than the £18.0b in November last year, as reported by the British Bankers' Association
Underlying net mortgage lending (gross lending minus repayments and redemptions) rose by £6.7b, compared with £5.7b in October, £5.1b in November 2005 and an average of £5.7b over recent months.
There were 206,051 mortgage approvals (for all purposes) in November, with an aggregate value of £23.0b. This number of approvals was 6.8% higher than in November 2005 and their value was 20.8% higher. The average loan approved for house purchase was £146,900, some 12% higher than a year earlier.
Net lending on loans and overdrafts fell by £0.1b in November, compared with an increase of £0.7b in October and an average rise over the previous six months of +£0.4b. In contrast, underlying net lending on credit cards rose by £0.1b, compared with a fall of £0.3b in October and with an average monthly contraction of £0.2b over recent months.
David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, said: "The contrast between the annual growth rate of net mortgage lending, at 14% and consumer credit, at 2%, is noteworthy. In the mortgage market, the high number of loans approved in November, which is not usually a strong month, suggest that the trend in mortgage lending will continue to be robust over the next few months."
