LONDON - MORTGAGE lending in Britain has more than halved over the past year, according to the British Banker's Association - further evidence that the economic downturn is dramatically hurting the country's property market.
The number of new home mortgages approved in Britain was 52 per cent lower in October than in the same month a year earlier, the industry group said on Tuesday.
Major British banks approved 21,584 mortgages for new house purchases in October, down from 45,105 in October of 2007, the association said.
Banks reacting to a global credit crunch have tightened up on lending, requiring larger deposits and higher rates of interest which have frozen many potential buyers out of the housing market.
That in turn has added to downward pressure on house prices, which have fallen around 10 percent in the last year.
'Comparison of current lending levels with last year is obscured by the very different economic conditions that exist now, reflecting a much reduced appetite for borrowing,' said Mr David Dooks, the association's statistics director. -- AP
