Novembers Mortgage Lending dropped by 4.1% when compared to October, according to the British Bankers Association.

Net mortgage lending rose by £4,007mn. The twelve month growth rate declined to 13.2% the weakest annual growth since May 2002.

Compared to the same month a year earlier, November’s approvals of house purchase loans were 41% lower by number and 34% lower by value; remortgaging loans were 22% lower by number and 9% lower by value; and equity withdrawal loans were 35% lower by number and 28% lower by value.

David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, said:

“Weaker mortgage lending in November continued the pattern of reduced demand that we have seen over the second half of this year and there is little to suggest that mortgage appetites will change in the near-term, given the noticeable slow-down in the housing market.

The advent of mortgage regulation had a small impact in November, temporarily reducing volumes of equity withdrawal approvals, as banks worked to ensure the full compliance of their products.

Overall consumer credit, despite a relatively weak rise in card borrowing, was stronger, following Octobers weaker growth.”

The Major British Banking Groups (MBBG) account for some two-thirds of all mortgage lending outstanding and around 70% of gross lending. Additionally, they provide over half of all consumer credit outstanding and, within that, some 70% of all card credit. They include twelve of the fifteen largest mortgage lenders in the UK: Abbey National, Alliance & Leicester, Barclays and Woolwich, Bradford & Bingley, HBOS (through Halifax and Bank of Scotland), HSBC Bank, LloydsTSB (through Cheltenham & Gloucester), Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland and National Westminster.

29 December 2004