BoE mortgage lending remains stagnant

Mortgage approvals are still less than half the level recorded in the run up to the banking crisis in 2007.

Lending secured on dwellings rose by £0.6bn, less than the previous six-month average of £0.7bn.

Gross lending secured on dwellings was £12.6bn in November, higher than the previous six-month average of £11.7bn.

Repayments in November were £11.6bn, higher than the previous six-month average of £11.2bn.

The number of approvals for remortgaging decreased in November to 31,154, lower than the previous six-month average of 32,448.

David Braithwaite, director of Citrus Financial Management, said: “As these latest figures testify, for the mortgage market flat is the new growth.

“The material drop in the number of remortgages may reflect how, as the eurozone crisis escalated and the economy deteriorated in the late autumn, people became even more confident that interest rates are going nowhere for quite some time.

“The fall in remortgage activity may also reflect declining equity levels in the UK's housing stock as house prices continue to slide downwards.

“Looking forward, 2012 will be about matching willing borrowers with reluctant lenders. At best we'll be moving sideways.”