CML: Mortgage lending will start slow in 2010

The provision of home loans is to experience a slow start to the year, one organisation has claimed.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), while this will pick up speed over the next ten months, the flood of applicants in December may ease to a trickle for a while.

Spokesman for the body Bernard Clarke said that increased interest over Christmas was caused by the impending deadline for the stamp duty holiday.

People wanted to avoid paying the charge, he remarked, knowing that they needed to apply before the new year to ensure this would happen.

Commenting on the overall state of the market, Mr Clarke said that it is less competitive than before, which may cause a temporary lull in activity.

A more wholesale funding approach is required to give the sector a boost, he added.

CML figures from January showed that gross mortgage lending in December 2009 was up 14% on the previous year.