The number of mortgages approved by high street banks fell by 11 per cent in February compared with a year earlier.
In UK Finance figures that lay bare the weakness in Britain’s housing market, mortgage approvals for purchases fell to 38,120 on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 40,031 in January and 42,997 in the previous February.
Excluding the dip in approvals after interest rates rose in November and the aftermath of the European Union referendum, house purchase lending is at its lowest level in three years.
