LONDON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The British Bankers' Association (BBA) reported a further drop in mortgage approvals for house purchase in November, which were now down almost 20 percent compared to last year.
The main high street banks approved 36,717 loans for house purchase in November. That total was down 1.2 percent on October, 19.5 percent compared to a year earlier and was the lowest level since April 2013.
"Today's figures show quite a sharp chill to the housing market in recent months," said Richard Woolhouse, BBA's Chief Economist.
"It will be interesting to see what impact the stamp duty changes the Chancellor unveiled in his Autumn Statement will have early in the New Year," added Woolhouse.
Matthew Pointon, Property Economist of the Capital Economics, believed the drop in mortgage lending over the past year partly reflected a tightening in mortgage lending standards.
"However, the reforms to stamp duty and lifting of regulatory uncertainty should help mortgage lending to slowly recover during the course of 2015," said Pointon.
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