After the peak of the housing bubble in August 2007 when 103,000 loans for house purchase (worth £16.3 billion) were advanced, numbers began to dwindle fast to a low point in January 2009, when there were 23,000 loans for house purchase (worth £3.1 billion), the lowest number since the CML’s monthly records began in 2002.
The economy was worsening and house prices were falling. The public wanted to know why lenders were not lending but could not understand (and many still do not) the funding crisis that created a huge gap in the capacity to fund mortgages to match consumer demand. Those that could lend had to tighten criteria to such a point that many who wanted to enter the market were unable to do so.
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Article by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Data sourced from the CML/BankSearch Regulated Mortgage Survey.