Lending falls again

New figures from the bank of England have revealed that the mortgage market has declined further.

During June the number of loans to buy homes fell to 36,000, down by 5,000 on May's figure.

The figures for remortgaging and "other" loans were also down, amid a general downturn in lending trends.

Such figures suggest that increasingly few people are looking to move home during the present climate.

Those who are staying put may decide now is a good time to carry out renovations to their existing home to ensure it meets their needs, rather than trying to fulfil this aim by moving to a new one.

In related news, a report to the Treasury by former HBOS chairman Sir James Crosby has rejected the idea of having a US-style government-backed mortgage body along the lines of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

He stated: "It seems unlikely that it would be right to tackle this century's problems with last century's solution, particularly given the time it would take to create such an agency."