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23 Feb 2010
Mortgage loans fall sharply
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has said the number of mortgages that the UK's biggest banks agreed with home buyers fell sharply in January.
The BBA said many buyers had borrowed in December to beat the re-introduction of a lower stamp duty threshold.
The BBA's members approved 35,000 new mortgages to home buyers last month, down from 46,000 in December.
Total mortgage lending fell to just £8bn in January, the lowest monthly amount for eight and a half years.
The BBA also blamed the very cold weather for deterring would-be home buyers.
"It was no surprise to see the January mortgage figures falling back from December, when transactions were being pushed through to beat the end of stamp duty relief," said the BBA's statistics director, David Dooks.
"There was a natural reaction in the January figures and the bad weather further suppressed market activity," he added.