Mortgage approvals nearly double in October

The BBA said that the figures reflected low levels of mortgage lending at the end of last year. The BBA added that their figures showed that “consumer credit continued to be weak and lending to non-financial corporates fell.”

David Dooks, statistics director of the BBA, said, “The longer it takes to emerge from recession, the longer we will see households and businesses continue to borrow with caution. The banks' mortgage lending, still growing by more than 4% a year, shows one aspect of consumer behaviour but unsecured borrowing is subdued and people are building up deposits.

"A mixture of lower business demand, alternative corporate funding and tighter lending conditions, all giving rise to the on-going contraction in lending to non-financial companies, is a reflection of current market conditions."