Mortgage activity in the UK has increased significantly during the last year, new figures have indicated.
According to recent research carried out by the British Bankers' Association (BBA), high street banks were responsible for the majority of such transactions.
The study revealed that the number of
mortgages approved by high street banks increased by 4.3 per cent in the twelve months leading up to May 2010, with such organisations being responsible for 75 per cent of all new lending during this period.
With some 35,000
mortgages granted each month, it appears banks are proving more popular than building societies for such lending.
David Dooks, statistics director at the BBA, said: "High street banks are the predominant lenders and I expect this trend to continue. Building societies are seeing regular contractions in their loan books and it has been this way for the last 18 months and is likely to continue."
Brian Murphy, head of lending at
Mortgage Advice Bureau, added that activity in the
mortgage market is currently "flatlining", noting that the effect of the Budget is yet to have an impact.
