Eight of the top nine UK bank lenders are currently ‘battening down the hatches’ and considering loan applications only from existing customers, according to new research*.
Loans are most readily available to existing current account customers and this ‘lender reluctance’ is the latest symptom of how banks continue to tighten up on loan availability in the current unfavourable climate.
Banks are loosening up again on mortgage lending for first time buyers on the high street, according to new figures just released.
The British Banker’s Association (BBA), which monitors the mortgage lending activity of all the main high street banks, has revealed that latest mortgage lending statistics for October show that the number of new mortgages approved almost doubled compared to the (admittedly stagnant) levels of the previous-year period.
