Wet, wet, wet: mortgage approvals sink as weather takes toll

The number of mortgages approved for house purchases fell by 11% last month compared with May, to 26,269. This figure was also down 20.5% on June 2011. The BBA attributed the fall to the unseasonal wet weather - June was the wettest since records began in 1910 - as well as the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and Euro 2012 football. Remortgaging approvals fared even worse, falling 42.9% from figures posted a year earlier. Net mortgage lending by banks grew 0.9% over the last 12 months but gross mortgage lending fell to £7.2bn in June. The average price for approved house purchase...