BoE stats show dip in lending

In news that may be of interest to people looking to sell a house in Scotland, the Bank of England (BoE) has today (April 29th) released statistics that show a dip in net lending to individuals.

Throughout March, new lending amounted to £8.2 billion; however, this was below the increase experienced in February.

Meanwhile, the 12-month growth rate slowed to 8.7 per cent. There were some 64,000 loans approved for a house, with an additional 98,000 for remortgaging, the bank reveals.

Commenting on the results, the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ director general Michael Coogan said: "It comes as no surprise that approvals for house purchase have continued to decline.

"This will result in a substantially lower level of housing transactions in 2008 than we saw last year."

However, people hoping to sell a house in Scotland may be relieved to hear that the Scottish housing market has been described as "remarkably robust" by property consultancy Knight Frank.