Mortgage Approvals Rise

The Bank of England today released its figure for mortgage lending in the month of May. To the surprise of many analysts (and possibly to members of the Bank itself), the figures showed an increase in the number of mortgage approvals when compared to the month of April.

The figures for May show loan approvals standing at some 114,000, up from 109,000.

The total amount of mortgage lending did see a dip, however, to £8.701 billion (a decrease from £8.763 billion in April).

It seems that, in general terms, the performance of the UK housing market remains strong. Interest rate rises don't appear to have had a major impact in terms of stopping people taking out new mortgages, or reducing house prices.