Number of mortgage approvals slip

Fewer and smaller mortgages are being written, as lenders continue to turn the screws.

According to the latest Bank of England data for September, the number of mortgage approvals for house purchase slipped to 47,474 – down from 47,498 in August, and lower than the previous six-month average of 48,764.

Remortgaging picked up to 28,903 compared with the August figure of 28,390, and was higher than the previous six-month average of 24,754.

Josh Miller, RICS senior economist, said: “Two key factors are depressing activity levels: firstly, demand is weakening, and secondly, there remains a major scarcity of mortgage finance. Indeed, the latest Bank of England Credit Conditions Survey indicates that mortgage availability is not expected to improve during Q4.”


Richard Sexton, business development director at e.surv, said: “An important factor to stress is that it’s not just mortgage approval numbers that have shown a slight decline, it’s LTV ratios, too.  

“This is down to credit market basics: lenders are toughening their criteria and buyers are cautious. As a result, we see fewer loans, and those that are written are smaller.”