Mortgage lending continues to slide in June

By MoneyhighStreet Staff. Published on July 18, 2008 This post currently has no comments.

balancing the books
Mortgage lending in the UK continued to decline in June, the latest figures have revealed.

Data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that gross lending slumped three per cent in the month to £23.8 billion.

Compared to June 2007, mortgage lending in the country has dipped 32 per cent - highlighting the drastic impact that the credit crunch has had on the property market in the UK.

According to the CML, the speed of the decline in mortgage lending seems to be accelerating. While lending in the first quarter of 2008 was down 11 per cent on the same period in 2007, in the second three months of the year, mortgage lending slumped 21 per cent compared to the same months a year ago.

"Market activity during a traditionally a busy time of year for mortgages has been muted by funding shortages and, more recently, dampened consumer demand," explained CML director general Michael Coogan.

"While by historic comparisons we still have had a good level of gross lending, new net lending has been constrained in 2008 and this picture will continue for the rest of this year."

Recently, Halifax revealed that it was reducing the interest rates of 20 of its existing 45 fixed-rate products by 0.15 per cent.