LONDON (MktNews) - The rise in UK net mortgage lending slowed in February to an underlying Stg1.945 billion from Stg2.065 billion in January, according to seasonally adjusted figures released by the British Bankers' Association Tuesday.
The February figure strips out a Stg750 million securitisation.
Gross new mortgage lending totalled Stg5.993 billion in February, down 2% from January's Stg6.136 billion but still 20% higher than in February last year.
Mortgage approvals rose from January's level. There were 139,659 new mortgage loans approved with a total value of Stg7.517 billion, some 17% by number and 23% by value higher than in January.
The number of loans approved for house purchase totalled 56,967 (44,719 in January) with a value of Stg4.236 bln, while the number of loans approved for remortgaging was 40,491 (34,959 in January) with a value of Stg2.564 bln.
"Though mortgage lending moderated in February, much stronger data for loan approvals suggest that there is every likelihood of the mortgage market strengthening in the coming months," said Tim Sweeney, BBA director general.
He noted that re-mortgaging remains strong and stable while loan demand will see its usual seasonal upturn in the spring, boosting the overall lending figures.
New borrowing on credit cards and through personal loans totalled Stg7.288 billion, some 10% less than in January, although very similar to February last year, the BBA reported.
New credit card borrowing alone totalled Stg4.689 billion in February, some 12% less than in January. After strong repayments, there was a small fall in net lending of Stg43 million.
Net repayments are usually made early every year, so that after allowing for this seasonal effect, the underlying change was a rise of Stg222 million. Though stronger than in the previous two months, this rise was not as high as in February 2000 when credit card borrowing increased by Stg255 million.