For May
Provided by: British Bankers' Association (BBA)
Official Release: PDF

From the Release: "May’s mortgage lending was much weaker than April and a record low number of house purchase approvals means the subdued picture will continue. Consumer credit rose, largely reflecting lower credit card repayments and, after April’s strong inflow, personal deposit growth was weaker in May. 

BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said of the latest data: “Measures of mortgage activity were lower in May as a result of tighter lending criteria and economic pressures on households. Only remortgaging business is holding up, where people need or want to take advantage of deals with other lenders. People spent more on credit cards, but repayment levels were lower than expected in May and after April’s busy month with people putting money into ISAs, personal deposits were not as strong.”

For April
Provided by: Bank of England

Net Mortgage Lending: 6.4B, forecast 6.8B, pr. 6.7B

Mortgage lending dropped in April, with 58,000 new loans granted by banks in April, compared to 64,000 new loans in March. Its the lowest level in at least 9 years (the series begain in 1999). Lenders are limiting the amount of mortgages as they try and shore up their balance sheets in response to the credit crunch. Despite the poor news on housing, the central bank is concerned about inflation and is expected to hold rates at 5% when it meets on Friday. The 3 previous cuts have not been passed on to consumers. 

A second release showed manufacturing slowing to a flat level and poor news from the financial sector which caused losses in stocks, seriously pressured the Pound to start the week. Bradford & Bingley Plc, the UK's biggest mortgage lender to landlords, said it will raise more capital because of widening bad-debt provisions. Thew news reignited fears about the health of the banking sector.

For April
Provided by: British Bankers' Association (BBA)
Official Release: PDF 

Approvals for house purchases continued to e well down on the same period in 2007. April's 38,704 mortgage approvals is 39.4% lower than April of 2007. The figure is slightly higher than the March period. Approvals for re-mortgaging were strong in April. Banks approved 74,722 re-mortgages an increase of 14,300 on last month and 20.3% higher than April 2007. 

For March
Provided by: Bank of England

Net Mortgage Lending: 6.9B, forecast 7.2B, pr. 7.4B

UK mortgage approvals fell in March to the lowest level in at least 9 years (data began being compiled in 1999). Net mortgage lending amounted to 6.9B pounds, the lowest in 3 years. The figures from the Bank of England adds to others releases this month that point to a logjam in terms of mortgage lending as banks limit lending in order to cope with tight conditions in the credit-market. The Bank has stepped in and offered to swap government bonds for mortgage securities in order to bolster confidence in the banking system and to jump-start the home-loans market. It will remain to be seen if the plan by the Bank will have the desired affect.

The Pound fell heavily following the release as investors believe the Bank of England will have to continue lowering rates in order to bolster the housing market and the overall economy, despite high inflation.

For March
Provided by: British Bankers' Association (BBA)

The UK housing sector continues to struggle. Today, mortgage approval data sunk to a new record low (since records began being kept in 1997) for March. Approvals for house purchases fell to 35,417. Net mortgage lending fell to £5.1 billion from £5.5 billion in February. The Bank of England was right in trying to ease lending conditions to remedy this situation, but so far the markets have not come on board in thinking that the Bank's plan will solve the impasse in mortgage lending.

The Pound weakened during the session and gave back most of its gains from yesterday

For February
Provided by: Bank of England

Net Mortgage Lending: 7.4B, pr. 7.4B

Mortgage approvals and net mortgage lending remained flat, while consumer appetite for debt (Consumer Lending) rose to its highest level in five months. Both the mortgage approvals and net mortgage lending are far off their February 2007 levels.

For February
Provided by: British Bankers' Association (BBA)

BBA Mortgage Approvals have been mired in the mid 40K level for the last 4 months (Oct '07 - Jan '08), almost half the pace of mid to high 70K range approved between March and June of 2007.

February's level remained steady with last months data, registering 43.9K approvals.  

For December
Provided by the Bank of England - Inside "Lending to Individuals - Table B"

"The numbers of loans approved for house purchase (74,000), remortgaging (119,000) and for other purposes (60,000) were all higher than in December"

For January

Offical Release from: The British Bankers' Association (BBA)

Remortgaging was strong in January pushing up total mortgage approvals. However, unsecured lending remained low. BBA statistics director, David Dooks comments:

"Although house prices and new loans for house purchase, appear to be subdued as the housing market slows, the strength of remortgaging would suggest competition for mortgage business and switching remains high."

For December
Provided by the Bank of England - Inside "Lending to Individuals - Table B"

Lenders granted 73,000 loans for house purchases during December, declining from the 81,000 handed out in November. It's the lowest level since records began in 1999. Banks have tightened their lending as a result of the credit conditions created after the subprime mortgage market collapse in the US. If Britons, who are already laden with record debt,  cannot get lending then consumer spending and the housing market will suffer. The central bank will most likely act to remedy this situation by lowering interest rates in their meeting on Feb 7th.

For December

Release from British Banker's Association

UK Mortgage approvals in December fell to the lowest level since records began. It is far below the 6-month average of 53,781. Remorgaging activity picked up to 62,771 close to the 63, 179 6-month average.

Mortgage lending came in steady at £4.7 billion, although below the 6-month running average.

“Mortgage lending weakened notably in the second half of 2007 as the credit crunch impacted on banks’ ability to lend. At the same time, demand for mortgages also softened in the face of increased borrowing costs and lower disposable income. The combination of these factors is resulting in the marked market slowdown and weakness in house prices we are now seeing.

Reports of high street sales over the Christmas period were mixed, but our figures show consumer borrowing to have been muted in December.”