British mortgage lending slows

British mortgage lending rose at the slowest pace in more than two years in August, the British Bankers’ Association said, adding to signs that five interest rate increases since November are cooling the housing market.

Net mortgage lending climbed by £4.4 billion (€6.4bn), down from £5.1bn (€7.5bn) in July and the smallest increase since June 2002. Including loans by building societies, gross mortgage lending slowed to £25bn (€36bn) in August from £28.9bn (€42.4bn) in July.