lending

Latest figures from the British Bankers' Association show there has been strong gross mortgage lending but weak unsecured lending over the last month.

UK interest rates would have to roughly double for the country's personal debt levels to cause an early 1990s-style financial crisis, says lender Alliance & Leicester.

Increasing bad debt provisions are forcing lenders to reassess lending rules and look to ensure acquisition strategies do not lead to bigger books of bad debt, says consultant Datamonitor.

Bank of England January figures suggest total net lending to individuals increased £10.5bn on December, although the annualised growth rate remained unchanged at 10.3%.

Gross mortgage lending stood at £23bn in January falling 14% from December's figure of £26.9bn the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has revealed.

Mortgage lending for house purchase at the end of 2005 stood at 46% of all lending (£37.6bn) reveal new figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Gross mortgage lending fell by 3% in October to an estimated £27bn but the market still shows resilience, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Gross mortgage lending grew to £17.8bn in September, the highest monthly total since July 2004 and 6% higher than August the lastest figures from the British Bankers Assocation (BBA) reveal

The Council of Mortgage Lenders,British Bankers Association and Building Societies Association have all released mortgage lending figures for February suggesting the UK now has a slow but steady housing market.

Over half of the UK's buy-to-let landlords are likely to maintain or increase their property portfolios over the next 12 months, suggests a survey, because they have owned rental property for more than three years.