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BoE: No quick fix for mortgage misery

Jaimie Kanwar

The Bank of England has released some sobering statistics about UK mortgage approvals.

According to the BoE, mortgage approvals have dived by almost 70% in the past year. Just 36,000 new loans arranged for people moving home during June - that is 69% fewer than in the same month last year and 12% lower than May's figure, according to the Bank of England.

Mortgage lending also dropped steeply during the month, with net advances hitting a near eight-year low of £3.1bn.

The number of home loans approved has now fallen for 14 consecutive months and is at its lowest since the BoE first issued figures in 1993.

Lenders have tightened their criteria because of the credit crunch, reducing the availability of mortgages, especially to would-be buyers with small deposits.

The BoE figures come as a report for the Treasury warned there is no quick fix for the problems in the mortgage market.

The Crosby Review, which is being carried out by the former head of the Halifax Bank of Scotland Group (HBOS), Sir James Crosby, says funding of home loans should be left to the market.

Sir James says Britain should avoid setting up US-style government-backed agencies to tackle the funding crisis.

But his independent report stops short of making recommendations on how to tackle the problems caused by the credit crunch.

It moots the idea of possible further support from the Treasury to help kick-start mortgage lending

The Bank of England data shows a fall in all types of mortgage approval, with just 165,000 new loans agreed during June, down from 214,000 just three months earlier.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at Global Insight, said it "heightens concerns over the potential depth and length of the housing market correction".

"The Bank of England data graphically highlights that housing market activity continues to be throttled by stretched affordability and tight lending conditions."

Nick Leeming added: "36,000 new mortgages in July is almost a quarter of the peak level in the autumn of 2006.  The dearth of mortgage finance is the main sticking point for the housing market.  With demand stifled, prices are falling, but that cannot stimulate transactions until the mortgage market is brought out of deep freeze. 

"The Crosby report offers a chink of light at the end of the tunnel but this is not a time to delay or be timid.  Waiting until the autumn makes no sense at all. The Treasury and the Bank of England should bring new mortgages into the special liquidity scheme straight away to get the market back on its feet".