Number of mortgages approved drops to ‘record low’

29 July 2008

Home loan approvals at lowest level since 1993

New figures from the Bank of England have shown that the number of new mortgages approved to purchase properties has decreased to its lowest level since 1993 when records began.

In June, 36,000 mortgages were approved – 5,000 less than in the previous month.

Additionally, the overall increase in the amount of money lent out in the form of home loans was also lower than had been predicted by many analysts.

The Bank of England figures also showed that this trend has continued for the past 14 consecutive months and that the number of approvals is now at its lowest since the Bank started its reports 15 years ago, in 1993.

According to the Bank, between June 2007 and June 2008, there was a 69% decrease in the number of mortgages approved.

Plus, the figures showed that those remortgaging had decreased from 90,000 in May to 84,000 in June.