mortgage lending showed further signs of easing in February, with a fall in both new lending and the number of loans approved, figures revealed.
The Bank of England said total lending fell to £20.66bn, from £21.18bn in January.
Once redemptions and repayments were taken into account, mortgage lending rose by £7.25bn, compared with an increase of £7.67bn the previous month.
The number of loans approved was also down at 109,000 from an average during the past three months of 113,000, although the Bank said that allowing for fewer working days in February the figure was similar to January.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Gerrard, said mortgage lending had come back a bit but it was still the fourth largest monthly figure on record, and people were still looking to withdraw equity (from their homes).
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