Gross mortgage lending in the UK rose markedly across October, a new estimate has suggested.
According to the prediction from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), this level reached an 11-month high during the month.
It was calculated that gross mortgage lending recovered to £12.9 billion over the four-week period, serving to reverse the dip in such records seen in September and indicating that signs of market weakness apparent in recent months may not last much longer.
The estimate places home loan activity of this type at four per cent higher than during the same month one year earlier.
Bob Pannell, chief economist at the CML – whose members undertake around 95 per cent of all the UK’s residential mortgage lending – said: “House purchase and remortgage activity both appear to have picked up recently and this should be supported by an improvement in the availability and pricing of mortgages.”
Mr Pannell explained some of the negative pressure linked to weak economic recovery may have been eased as a result of the positive early impact made by the Funding for Lending Scheme.
