British home loans slump 22%

There was fresh evidence of a cooling British housing market today after figures showed the number of home loans there slumping more than 20% in December.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said there were 62,000 loans over the month - 22% below November's 78,000 - due to factors such as lenders tightening standards and the introduction of a new system involving "home information packs".