May's mortgage lending was much weaker than in April and a record low number of house purchase approvals means the subdued picture will continue, according to the May figures for the main high street banks from the British Bankers' Association.
The May number of mortgage approvals for house purchase hit a record low at 27,968 - well down on the April total of 34,752 and 56.1% lower than for the same period last year. Approvals for equity withdrawal and other purposes also continued to decline.
The value of mortgage lending in May increased by a net £4.0bn, compared with April's increase of £5.2bn and the previous six month average of £5.0bn. Annual growth in mortgage lending now stands at 12.3%.
Consumer credit rose, largely reflecting lower credit card repayments and, after April's strong inflow, personal deposit growth was weaker in May.
BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said of the latest data: "Measures of mortgage activity were lower in May as a result of tighter lending criteria and economic pressures on households. Only remortgaging business is holding up, where people need or want to take advantage of deals with other lenders. People spent more on credit cards, but repayment levels were lower than expected in May and after April's busy month with people putting money into ISAs, personal deposits were not as strong."
