13th March 2009
Aspiring property investors want to know why major lenders are still refusing to provide products in spite of growing interest and small mortgage lenders withdrawing from the market, it has been stated.

This has been stated by Michael Coogan, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) director general, while releasing new data showing mortgage activity continued to fall in January.

Only 23,400 loans for house purchase were approved in January, down from 32,400 in December and even lower that the 48,600 approved in January 2008.

According to Mr Coogan, the withdrawal of specialist, small and foreign lenders from the market "has created a huge gap in the capacity to fund mortgages to match consumer demand and this is continuing in 2009".

"Government schemes to restore the flow of funds are primarily focused on a few large banks and recent lending commitments by a few lenders cannot fill the gap overnight," he stated.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors recently published figures showing interest from buyers has risen for four consecutive months.



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