Mortgage lending breaks records in November

Some £33.1 billion of mortgage lending took place in November, beating the previous record of £33 billion set in August, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has announced.

Last month’s figure was nine per cent higher than the £30.5 billion that was lent in October and 19 per cent up on the £27.7 billion figure recorded in November 2005.

The CML said that the strength of the mortgage lending market was based on the number of households in the UK, which is growing faster than the supply of available housing.

As a result of this demand, annual house price growth has reached ten per cent in the final quarter of 2006, compared to between three and five per cent at the beginning of the year.

"The housing market is undoubtedly in robust shape as we move towards the new year," said Michael Coogan, director general of the CML.

"Not only is today’s lending figure the highest ever, our recently published forecasts suggest lending will beat our previous predictions for the coming two years."

The CML expects that 2007 will be another record breaking year for the mortgage market, with gross lending of £360 billion taking place.