Number approved mortgages

5 December 2008

Despite the fact that the government has made a decision to raise stamp duty threshold to £175,000, number of mortgages taken has fallen to a record low, reported The Guardian. During September, 51% of homebuyers did not pay stamp duty in comparison with 22% in September 2007, said the Council of Mortgage Lenders, but number of new loans for homebuyers has gone down by 15% on Augusts` figure. CML reported that the value of approved mortgages for purchases and remortgages has gone down. Michael Coogan of CML said: "Banks and building societies do want to support homeowners, but they have limited funds available and are, quite reasonably, taking a prudent approach to risk. If the pricing and volume of interbank lending continues to improve, this should help the flow of mortgage lending." Trying to reduce the risk, many lenders have pulled their larger loans, trying to concentrate on borrowers with high equity, making it difficult for borrowers with high borrowing to find an appropriate mortgage deal.