According to recently released figures mortgage lending in the UK fell back again in the month of May. The figures were released by the Council of Mortgage lenders, and the data on the report showed that gross lending was around 2 percent lower in May than it was in April, standing at around £10.3 billion.

This figure was also 58 percent lower than the same month last year, showing how steeply mortgage lending levels have fallen over the past twelve months.

The CML data also showed that although there had been an increase in lending to those looking to buy a home there had also been a sharp drop in lending for those that were looking to refinance their existing home mortgage loan with another provider.

However, on a brighter note there has been evidence from a number of leading lenders that the house price falls may now be slowing down and the market could be close to bottoming out.

One economist from the CML stated: “Lending volumes appear to have stabilised at extremely low levels, but the weak labour market and lenders’ limited access to funding will constrain activity for some time yet. Underneath the headline gross lending figure, it’s likely that a moderate improvement in house purchase lending in May has been offset by very low remortgaging volumes as borrowers stay with existing deals.”

The Bank of England also commented on the trend, stating: “The major UK lenders reported an increase in approvals for mortgages for house purchase in May. And there are some indications that mortgage availability has increased over the past month. However, lenders have highlighted a number of frictions that might delay the effect on completed housing market transactions and mortgage lending.”

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