More falls in mortgage approvals

The Bank of England has said the number of new mortgages approved for home buying fell for the seventh consecutive month in December.

About 3,000 mortgages were approved for home buyers in December, down from a revised figure of 81,000 in November.

Overall, 226,000 home loans worth £25.4bn were approved during December, a figure the Bank of England said was well below the average for the previous six months of 262,000.

Mortgage approvals for people remortgaging rose slightly to 97,000, but the number of mortgages for other purposes - such as equity release and buy-to-let - continued to decline.