Mortgage lending at lowest level since 2002

Lending in July rose at a annual rate of 10.4% rising by £6.5bn which was lower than the 10.8% for June and the lowest increase for a little over three years. But separate figures on mortgage approvals suggest a stable property market in the run up to Christmas. Last month they rose to 97,000, bringing approval levels nearly back to those seen a year ago and similar to the figures of the previous three months. Fresh borrowing by consumers on credit cards, hire purchase agreements and bank loans has also continued to slow down. The Bank's figures show that in July consumer credit borr...