Business lending slows, property lending rises

Bank of England data shows that lending to companies of all sizes fell by £0.5bn in the three months to February, a drop of 2.1% compared with a year earlier. The number of mortgage approvals over the same period continued to increase however, raising fresh fears of a housing bubble and concerns over the state of the economic recovery. However, the banking trade association BBA said although net lending was down, a high proportion of loans were being approved. ScotiaBank reported: "lending to the real estate sector has sharpened in recent months as borrower repayments have started to increase, aided by improvements in the performance of the market."