Mortgage lending remains "robust"

UK mortgage borrowing last month slipped moderately below August's record lending figure, the latest figures indicate.

Statistics from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) show that gross mortgage lending reached £17.9 billion in September, £3 billion less than was borrowed in August, but £100 million more than was loaned in the corresponding month last year.

Net mortgage lending, calculated by subtracting repayments and redemptions, increased by £5.4 billion last month, slightly less than both the £5.9 billion growth in August and the recent average of £5.6 billion, but higher than the figure for September 2005.

And though the number of mortgage approvals last month – 183,090 – was eight per cent lower than 12 months previously, their aggregate value of £19.3 billion was one per cent higher.

The average loan for home purchase in September was worth £140,400.

"Though September's net mortgage lending was below the high summer plateau, that is not necessarily a sign of the market moderating," explained David Dooks, director of statistics at the BBA.

He added that equity withdrawal and remortgaging figures were both low last month, but that the number of loan approvals remained "robust". This "will support lending growth in the near-term", he concluded.