Mortgage Approvals Increase

According British Bankers Association (BBA), the amount of mortgages approvals for new house purchases has risen by 16% in February on the previous month to 28,179.This figure is also higher than the six-month average of 22,068.

In total£7.8billion of mortgage lending was approved in February agioanst a figure of £7.6billion in January.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the RICS, said "The increase in buyer enquiries is now feeding through into actual transactions..,"BBA figures demonstrate that mortgage approvals have risen for three consecutive months..."Even so, the actual level of activity still remains not that far away from historic lows and it would be premature to conclude that some semblance of order has returned to the housing market."

BBA statistics director David Dooks commented: “Most new mortgage lending is being done by the high-street banks but demand is being moderated by the impacts of the recession. Higher numbers of loans approved for house purchase simply reflect the banks' greater market share.”