Loan News Steady March Lending Figures Published

Written by Editorial Team

05 May 2006

The rise in consumer credit and credit card lending was lower in March than in previous months, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England.

Seasonally adjusted details of total net lending to individuals for the month of March were published today, with total lending up by £9.6 billion – half a billion higher than the February increase.

However, with consumers borrowing less credit in March, lowering the increase over the last 12 months from 8.6 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

Despite modest house price rises, there were 116,000 loans approved for home purchases in March, 2,000 more than in February, while remortgaging approval rates fell.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) predict that total mortgage lending will exceed £1 trillion next month, a milestone that the production manager at Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, Richard Barker, described as “a landmark” figure.

Nevertheless, he added that “the figure does not have any wider implications for the mortgage industry. It will probably be forgotten about fairly quickly as mortgage lending continues to grow further”.

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