 Mortgage approvals have increased for the first time since 2008, according to recent reports.
Figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) show that new mortgage lending and house purchase approvals have “increased slightly".
Speaking about the recent data that was released, David Dooks, statistics director at BBA, said: "The longer it takes to emerge from recession, the longer we will see households and businesses continue to borrow with caution.
"The banks' mortgage lending, still growing by more than 4 per cent a year, shows one aspect of consumer behaviour but unsecured borrowing is subdued and people are building up deposits."
Mr Dooks added: "A mixture of lower business demand, alternative corporate funding and tighter lending conditions, all giving rise to the on-going contraction in lending to non-financial companies, is a reflection of current market conditions."
Mortgage lending rise can increase conveyancing
This rise in mortgage lending implies that homeowners moving between properties will lead to more conveyancing services being needed and used.
Also providing comments on the BBA mortgage approval figures, Simon Rubinsohn, an RICS chief economist, said: "Data released this morning by the British Bankers' Association shows the level of mortgage lending continuing to edge higher, albeit in a very gradual way. This is broadly consistent with the conclusions of the Bank of England in its recently released Trends in Lending publication."
He also added: "Meanwhile, banks clearly remain a little more cautious about lending to other parts of the property industry with finance to both the commercial real estate sector and the construction industry continuing to be being scaled back."
He went on to state that: "Although the availability of finance for homebuyers has increased a little in recent months with some evidence of a modest relaxation in the strict control on loan to value ratios for first -time buyers, access to the property market still remains challenging particularly given the rebound in residential prices in recent months."
Fresh properties needed
He furthered: "That said, the lack of supply of property coming onto the market is proving to be an increasingly important obstacle to a more meaningful pick-up in transaction levels."
Mr Rubinsohn concluded by saying: "Inevitably, the number of new instructions will remain fairly subdued into the year end, but it is crucial that more fresh stock is placed with agents in the early part of 2010 to give the market a further boost. More importantly, this is critical to preventing a further sharp upward move in house prices."
However, a report brought out by the Bank of England, states that both the Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland - which owns the Halifax bank and is the UK's largest mortgage provider - were provided with a £61.6 billion lending stimulus in 2008. This is on top of the £500 billion that was used to bail out the banking sector, last year during the downturn.
John McFall MP, chairman of the Committee, said: "My colleagues when we received this note there was a little bit of intake of breath thinking how many universities, how many colleges, how many jobs could you support with this."
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