Mortgage approvals fall heavily in May

LONDON (ShareCast) - The UK housing market continues to deteriorate further as data showed mortgage approvals fell heavily again in May.

The Bank (TBHS) of England said 42,000 homes were approved in May, which is 28% lower than April and 64% lower than the same period in 2007.

t means the number of home loans approved have slipped for the thirteenth consecutive month.

Total net lending to individuals fell to £5.4bn in May from £7.3bn in April.

The figures also showed mortgage approvals for homeowners who were remortgaging also dropped, to 90,000 in May from 100,000 the previous month.

In a separate statement, the Building Societies Association said net lending by building societies in May totalled £125m down from £666m in April and £1.262bn in May of last year.

Gross lending was £3,3bn, down from £3.6bn in April and £4.6bn in May 2007.

Source: http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/080630/214/i2lib.html