Mortgage approvals up but net lending down

Again we are seeing very different signals from the UK property market with the Bank of England today confirming that mortgage approvals were up in May but net mortgage lending was down by over 30%. This seems to be the general format of the UK property market with each report bringing positive aspects and negative aspects at same time. More and more investors and homeowners are becoming totally confused as to the real direction of the sector although this will in time become more evident.



May saw an increase in mortgage approvals to just over 43,000, which bodes well against the average over the last six months of just under 36,000, a figure which is the highest monthly rise for 13 months. This is the fourth consecutive month during which mortgage approval numbers have increased although when you set this against the fact that net lending fell from £1.1 billion to £600 million in May it is easy to see why investors and homeowners are concerned.



It seems as though the UK property market has had more than enough opportunities to improve and move on from the current situation but something appears to be holding it back. Many people believe, as we have suggested before, that the market will not improve dramatically until mortgage liquidity improves and the current constraints in the marketplace are removed.