Mortgage lending by building societies continued to be low in December 2008, with gross lending down 35% over the past twelve months, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA).
Mutuals also saw major withdrawals from cash ISAs at the end of last year as unattractive interest put off savers. Gross lending hit £2,395m last month, down 7.7% compared with November 2008 and far less than the £3,669m recorded in the previous year. Net lending fell 69% over twelve months and fell 22% compared with November. "Activity in the housing market remains very depressed, and as a result the amount of mortgage lending in December was low," explains BSA director general Adrian Coles. "House prices are widely expected to fall further and unemployment is rising, so potential b...
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