Slight monthly rise in March bucks overall downward trend of mortgage lending

Mortgage lending fell 8% in the first quarter of 2008 and is likely to continue falling for the rest of the year, despite a slight monthly rise in March, said the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Gross lending rose 5% last month to 拢26.3bn, up from 拢25bn in February. However, the CML said that this was far less than the 20% rise usually seen between February and March. Lending in March was also 17% lower than for the same month a year earlier.

Lending in the first quarter as a whole was down 8% compared with the first three months of 2007.

Michael Coogan, director general of the CML, told the BBC: 鈥淟ending on completed transactions is currently running at levels considerably lower than a year ago. However, the picture for mortgage approvals for new business and prospective lending levels in the next few months is worsening.鈥�

The CML said it is hoping for further action from the Bank of England to help the market.

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