BBA reports rise in September mortgage approvals

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by Kay Murchie

The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has today reported a 76.8% increase in the number of mortgages approved for house purchase by the major banks in September, compared to the same month last year.

Approvals were also up on the month after 42,100 mortgages were approved for house purchase in September, compared with 40,100 in August.

According to the BBA, mortgage approvals have been “rising steadily” for the last eight months and the number of new loans for house purchase was back to the level experienced at the end of 2007.

BBA’s statistics director, David Dooks, said: “Mortgage lending by the High Street banks is continuing to improve from the lows seen earlier this year and the number of house purchase approvals continues to recover.”

“Housing market activity will depend, however, on more properties coming on to the market,” explained Mr Dooks.

Earlier this week, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) revealed a rise in the number of homes sold in September in the UK.

According to HMRC, 82,000 homes worth at least £40,000 or more were sold in the month - a slight rise from the 80,000 in August.

Furthermore, HMRC said house sales in the third quarter of 2009 were 11% higher than in the second quarter.

In other news today, however, it has emerged that the UK economy shrank by 0.4% in the July to September period, meaning the country is still in recession.

The fall in GDP means it is the first time the UK has endured six consecutive quarters without growth - the first time since the ONS began gathering the data in 1955.