Mortgage approvals up slightly

According to the latest market report by the British Bankers Association (BBA), net mortgage lending fell 21% to £2.7 billion last month, compared with a revised £3.4billion in March, its lowest level since March 2001,

However on the plus side mortgage approvals during April were up slightly on the previous month but remain 15.5% lower than for the same period last year.

The BBA said approvals came in at a seasonally adjusted 27,685, compared with 26,671 in March.

BBA statistics director David Dooks said: “The house purchase part of the mortgage market appears to have stabilised, with slightly more approvals coming through, although April's weak net mortgage lending reflects the lower number of approvals in previous months.”