Mortgage lending increases again

The CML's latest figures show that a further £30.3 billion was lent to home buyers in October.

That was 4% more than in September and 12% higher than in October last year.

Separate figures show that borrowing on credit cards issued by the biggest UK banks fell for the sixth month in a row, down by £385m in October.

The British Bankers Association (BBA) said: "Credit card lending continued to fall, as it has in most months of this year, though other consumer credit was stronger than of late."

Rate rises

With the Bank of England raising interest rates for the second time this year, two weeks ago, it is widely expected that the housing market will start to cool off after a strong start to the year.

"For yet another month the housing market is proving itself to be in robust shape," said the CML's director general Michael Coogan.

"But with interest rates rising for the second time in three months, we anticipate a modest slow down in house sales and mortgage approvals as 2007 progresses," he added.

So far though there has been little evidence of any slowdown as borrowers have ignored the first rate rise in August and have continued borrowing.

House prices have been accelerating gently for most of the year, with all the leading surveys showing that prices are now rising at around 8% a year.

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