House market defies crash fears

The house market is continuing to defy gloomy forecasts

The housing market has continued to defy gloomy forecasts, with mortgage lending figures rising to new highs.

The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said net lending from the UK's nine major banks rose a record £5.9bn, against a £5.6bn jump in September.

BBA director of statistics David Brooks said there were no signs the UK mortgage market was slowing.

He added robust growth was likely to be maintained in coming months given the record number of approvals in October.

The BBA comprises nine major banking groups, including HSBC, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB, and Barclays.

Debt fears

The report appears to confirm a number of recent surveys that have confounded concerns that the market is heading for a crash as prices spiral higher and the gap between earnings and prices widens.

This month the Bank of England raised rates for the first time since February 2000 in an attempt to cool the market.

The Bank's decision was also an attempt to cut soaring debt - which the BBA's report shows also continued to rise last month.

Net consumer credit rose £0.6bn in October - the smallest increase since January.

Meanwhile, credit card borrowing expanded a net £347m, after rising £472m in September, its lowest gain since June.