The rate of the recovery appears to have stalled according to figures released by the Bank of England for March 2010.
The net lending secured on dwellings increased by £0.3 billion, well below the February increase of £1.8 billion and the previous six-month average of £1.5 billion. The twelve-month growth rate was unchanged, at 1.0%.
The number of loan approvals for house purchase (48,901) was slightly higher than the February figure (46,882) but below the previous six-month average (54,201).
Approvals for remortgaging (27,880) were higher than in February and also higher than the previous six-month average (25,853), while approvals for other purposes (25,484) were slightly higher than in February but just below the previous six-month average of 26,696.
These figures indicate that there was a lowering in the amount borrowed per transaction but only a marginal decrease in the number of transactions. Many experts believe this slight slowdown in the rate of recovery is as a direct result of people waiting until the General Election is over before making any commitments.
Source: www.bankofengland.co.uk (05/05/10)