27 June 2006, 12:57  UK May net mortgage lending up 5.7 bln stg

Mortgage lending in the UK rose by its highest amount in two years in May but credit card borrowing fell for the second time in three months, a leading industry body confirmed today. The British Bankers' Association said net mortgage lending in May rose by an underlying 5.7 bln stg from the previous month. That's higher than the 5.1 bln stg recorded in April and the 5.1 bln plus average over recent months. The figures are unchanged from its earlier estimate made on June 20. Gross mortgage lending for May, meanwhile, hit a record high of 18.2 bln stg, some 18 pct above the much shorter working month of April and 27 pct higher than May last year. The BBA added that there were 201,506 mortgage approvals in May, some 8 pct higher than in the same month a year ago, taking the total value of approvals to 21.2 bln stg. Elsewhere in its monthly survey, the BBA said loans and overdrafts rose by 0.7 bln stg, but that underlying credit card borrowing slipped by 0.3 bln, having been flat over recent months.

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