The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that mortgage lending has increased year-on-year, for the fifth month in a row, though it added that there was considerable uncertainty as to the prospects of the housing market during the year ahead.
Gross mortgage lending in December was £11.7bn, down 12% on November but up 12% on December 2010, while mortgage lending for the whole year was £140bn, up from £136bn in 2010.
However, the encouraging figures do not translate into optimism for the housing market as a whole. Bob Pannell, chief economist at CML, said that it was difficult to forecast accurately because of the continuing uncertainty regarding the eurozone. The CML has already said that the increase in lending in November was because of the high number of those who are taking up fixed-rate deals.