A new report by the British Banker’s Association (BBA) has indicated that mortgage lending in April 2009 decreased to the lowest level in 8 years.

Although this negative news, mortgages that were actually granted by lenders increased during April 2009. But some industry experts have said that during this year net lending could turn into negative figures as more money will be paid on debt rather than borrowed.

On the other hand, the number of mortgages approved was the second highest over the past year. 27,685 mortgages were approved in April 2009 which was an increase of 4 per cent on March 2009.

A BBA official commented: “The house purchase part of the mortgage market appears to have stabilised, with slightly more approvals coming through, although April’s weak net mortgage lending reflects the lower number of approvals in previous months. Households’ uncertain financial circumstances not surprisingly continue to dictate consumer behaviour, both in the housing market and in generating only low demand for new personal loans.”