Lending declined 30% in 2008 - CML

Gross mortgage lending totalled just £12.6bn in December - the lowest monthly figure since April 2001 - down 11% from November and almost 50% on December 2007. The trade body added that approval figures from the Bank of England suggested lending would decline further in the coming months, so improvements in lending are unlikely to be seen in completion levels until the second half of 2009 at the earliest. Michael Coogan, director general of the CML, says December is typically a quiet month, on top of which the market remains constrained by a shortage of funding. He continues: "A mortgag...