Mortgage approvals 'slow down'

More would-be homebuyers have had their mortgages approved in April than at the same time last year, though the figure is down compared to last month, according to figures released by leading banks.

The British Bankers Association (BBA) revealed that one per cent more mortgages or loans to purchase property were approved in April 2007 than in the same month in 2006 and the value of those loans over the same period was ten per cent higher.

However, the growth is sluggish and actually shows a drop from the previous month.

In March, 75,098 loans were approved with a value of £11.3 billion but in April the figures dropped to 64,185 mortgage approvals worth £9.9 billion.

David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, told the Thomson Financial newswire: "The latest three months have seen net mortgage lending stabilise, with rises below the average of the previous six months."

He added that the effect of four interest rate rises since August was putting a dampener on mortgage demand.