Home loans at record high
13 April 2012
MORTGAGE lending surged to a record high in October, the Bank of England confirmed today, as homebuyers rushed to take advantage of rock-bottom interest rates ahead of November's increase in the cost of borrowing.
The Bank said home loans rose by £9.5bn during the month - the biggest one-month increase since April 1993. They were 14.4% higher than a year ago - also the highest figure ever.
Meanwhile, a barometer of the manufacturing sector showed factory activity expanded in November at the fastest for four years. The CIPS/Reuters purchasing managers' index registered 54.5 against 54.3 the previous month.
