There were 22% fewer new mortgages lent in the first quarter of this year, compared with the last quarter of 2009.
The Financial Services Authority says, however, that the figure of £32bn is much the same as for the first quarter of last year. The total value of outstanding loans is now £1,206bn. The share of lending for house purchase decreased, to account for 58% of new advances.
The proportion of new lending done at an LTV of more than 90% accounted for less than 2% of new advances for the third successive quarter.
New lending with a combination of high LTVs and high income multiples again accounted for less than 1% of new lending in Q1.
The proportion of loans to borrowers with an impaired credit history was just 0.35%. Both arrears and repossessions fell. The number of new possessions was 10,500, a decrease of 11% on the last quarter and the lowest figure for two years
