UK mortgage approvals slump 61 per cent in year to November

The slide in mortgage approvals in Britain accelerated last month, with just 17,773 approved for house purchase compared with 20,767 in October - 60.7 per cent fewer than the previous year, British Bankers' Association data showed yesterday.

Underlying net mortgage lending rose by £2.9 billion last month, compared with a £3.3 billion rise the month before.

"The 1.5 percentage point November reduction in (the Bank of England's) Bank Rate caused lenders to re-assess product ranges and borrowers to re-consider future borrowing costs, so consequently there was another drop in market activity," said BBA statistics director David Dooks. "Volumes of mortgage approvals reached new lows and, with house prices still falling, the encouragement of lower costs had not filtered through by the month-end, largely because people remain concerned about the impacts of the rapidly slowing economy on their personal finances," he added.