Bovis Homes echoes fellow housebuilders in concerns over mortgage finance

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by Kay Murchie

Housebuilder Bovis Homes has echoed its rivals and stressed that the lack of mortgage finance continues to hinder a recovery in the housing market.

Bovis, which is one of Britain’s largest housebuilders, said the market showed signs of stabilisation in the first half of 2009.

While the group said the volume of sales remained at low levels, it did highlight that 901 private customers had reserved properties during the first half of the year - an increase of 92% over the same period last year.

However, it has echoed rival housebuilders, Redrow, Barratt Developments and Persimmon who have all warned recently that the lack of mortgage availability continues to have an impact on the recovery of the UK property market.

According to the housebuilders, there is renewed interest in their developments but potential buyers are still unable to secure a mortgage.

The housebuilders claims’ appear to be backed up by recent Bank of England figures, which revealed that over 16,000 mortgage applicants are being turned down each month. The figure stood at 12,000 last December but has risen since March.

The figures from the Bank of England came just a day after the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported that mortgage lending fell by 58% in the year to May 2009.