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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| 'Steady rise' in mortgage lending | 'Steady rise' in mortgage lending |
| (9 minutes later) | |
| Mortgage lending by the UK's major banks has returned to levels seen early last year, figures show. | Mortgage lending by the UK's major banks has returned to levels seen early last year, figures show. |
| The number of approvals for house purchases rose to 31,162 in May, up 15.8% compared with the same month a year ago. | The number of approvals for house purchases rose to 31,162 in May, up 15.8% compared with the same month a year ago. |
| But the British Bankers' Association (BBA) data also shows that borrowing on credit cards has dropped owing to householders' economic uncertainty. | But the British Bankers' Association (BBA) data also shows that borrowing on credit cards has dropped owing to householders' economic uncertainty. |
| Various lenders have raised the cost of fixed-rate mortgages in recent days. | Various lenders have raised the cost of fixed-rate mortgages in recent days. |
| Demand shrinks | |
| Despite the rising number of approvals - a signal of future activity in the housing market - the BBA said that the mortgage picture remained subdued overall. | |
| Net new mortgage lending, of £2.3bn in May, was again at its lowest level since March 2001, having fallen from £2.5bn in April. | |
| BBA statistics director David Dooks argued that High Street banks were loosening their lending constraints and offering mortgages to people who did not have a large deposit to give. | |
| But he said that consumers' appetite to borrow had been hit by uncertainty over jobs, house prices and the state of the economy in general. | |
| This also meant that demand for new loans was contracting, and spending on credit cards was down 11.4% on a year ago. | |
| With interest rates still at a record low, the number of people remortgaging has continued to fall. Approvals were down 60% to 24,847 in May as many householders simply stuck with their lenders' variable rates. | |
| Low interest rates - with the Bank rate still at 0.5% - were also hitting savings, with the BBA seeing a low level of new deposits being made by customers, who are likely to be searching elsewhere for higher returns. |