The number of mortgages approved by the UK’s major banks rose slightly last month, new figures suggest.
Produced by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), the statistics show that over the course of October a total of 42,238 mortgages were agreed.
This was an increase from the 42,073 recorded during the previous month.
Meanwhile, it was also noted that the number of approvals for borrowers switching loans in October was 20,685, which was a fall from the 21,054 recorded in September and a drop of 61.8 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Responding to the findings, BBA statistics director David Dooks said: “The longer it takes to emerge from recession, the longer we will see households and businesses continue to borrow with caution.”
Also commenting on the data, Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, claimed that access to the UK’s property market “remains challenging”.
