UK Mortgage Lending Up 16 Percent In April

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported today that its members granted 16% more home loans in April than the previous month.

Before we get the bunting out and get too carried away, the number granted was still 28% below April 2008 levels. Total loans granted came to GBP4.5 billion, 40% less than a year ago.

The average loan made was for just 67% of the total value of the property being mortgaged, with cautious lenders only lending an average of 2.63 times the borrowers income.

Not a lot of cheer for first-time buyers in amongst that lot really. Still, on the current market some people will see this as bullish news for the pound.