The number of mortgages approved in August was the lowest since January 2015.
In August just 36,997 mortgages were approved, marking the slowest period for this type of lending in 19 months. This is also a 21% decrease on the same period last year. House borrowing has been steadily decreasing since April when stamp duty increases were introduced, with the result of the EU Referendum also having an effect.
Consumer Lending Increases
Rebecca Harding, chief economist at the BBA said:
"Mortgage borrowing is growing at a slower pace than it has for the last few months reflecting both the slowdown in housing market growth after the April spike and broader trends in the sector”.
Though while mortgage lending has slowed down, consumer lending has increased by the largest amount in almost 10 years. The Brexit vote shook consumer confidence; but this appears to have recovered very well since with credit growing by 6.4% in the year to August.
For more information on the slow down on mortgage lending, visit the BBC website.
