Mortgage lending rise fails to dent credit crunch fears
THERE was an unexpected increase in mortgage lending in January, figures published yesterday revealed.
But the credit crunch might still take its toll, with lenders warning that a downturn over the next few months was likely.
Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that gross lending rose to an estimated £26.5 billion last month, up 11 per cent from £23.9bn in December 2007.
Despite the current tough economic environment, the figure was only down by a modest 0.5 per cent on the £26.6bn reached in January last year.
Yesterday, the CML said that the figures showed a "good performance" given that January figures are usually lower than December’s. But it admitted that volumes are expected to decline in the coming months as the fall in mortgage approvals towards the end of last year start to feed through. Read More
