Britain’s rush to climb on to the property ladder showed few signs of abating in October but business lending has declined, the British Bankers Association warned today.
Its figures showed 42,808 house purchase approvals last month from the main high street banks, which accounted for some two-thirds of all mortgage lending.
This was marginally below September’s 45-month high but still 33% above last year’s figure, thanks to the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending and the Government’s Help to Buy schemes.
Economists said the early launch of the second mortgage guarantee phase of Help to Buy was likely to lead to another surge. IHS Global Insight’s Howard Archer said: “There is a significant risk that house prices could really take off across a widening range of regions over the coming months.”
Business lending, however, dropped by £940 million over the month, reversing part of September’s encouraging £2.2 billion increase.
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