Property news from PWR Letting Agents Nottingham and Mansfield

No, the mortgage squeeze is not getting any less pressured. UK mortgages approved by the six biggest banks dropped to a nine-month low in February, when the number of home loans granted fell to 48,000 from 49,000 in January, according to a seasonally adjusted sample from the Bank of England's lending panel report. The value of mortgages rose to 5.6 billion pounds ($8.6 billion) from 5.1 billion pounds in January.

"Demand for secured lending recovered somewhat in February, according to some of the major UK lenders, but remained weaker than expected,'' the central bank said in the report. "A number of lenders remained concerned about the risk of renewed falls in house prices and further rises in unemployment.''


The effects of the longest cold snap in three decades in January, which limited demand for new homes, continued to be felt in February, the bank said. Approvals were also down following an increase at the end of 2009 as buyers brought forward transactions to avoid a tax increase in 2010.


Banks said increased competition to lend produced, "some downward pressure on mortgage pricing,'' while signs that mortgage arrears may not be as bad as initially expected encouraged banks to make new loans.

The six major lenders told the Bank of England that availability of credit for businesses improved, though demand for it "remained subdued,'' the report said.

The Bank of England's sample released today covers data from Banco Santander SA, Barclays Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Nationwide Building Society and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. Together they accounted for about 70 per cent of mortgage lending at the end of 2008.