Mortgage lending by British banks rose by its weakest monthly amount in nearly three years, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) said today.
The BBA said underlying mortgage lending rose just £4 billion sterling last month, the weakest monthly flow since January 2002.
That compares with monthly gains of well over £5 billion seen earlier this year. Separate figures from the Building Societies' Association showed the value of mortgage approvals - loans agreed but not yet made - at a seasonally-adjusted £2.989 billion, down 32 per cent on the £4.422 billion one year ago.
"We expect 2005 to be, overall, a much quieter year than the one just finishing," said BSA director general Mr Adrian Coles.
Separately, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said the number of loans for house purchase in November fell to 85,000, down 25 per cent on the 113,000 seen a year earlier and the lowest total since 79,000 in February 2003 when the run-up to the Iraq war dented consumer and business confidence.