Mortgage lending jumps 18% in Q3 - CML

Lending climbed to £38.9bn in the three months to end September Q3 2009, a rise of 18% on Q2, it says. In September alone, mortgage lending totalled an estimated £12.5bn, a 2% rise on the £12.3bn recorded in August, but still 27% down on the figure recorded in the same month last year. The CML says although there has been a pick-up in house purchase activity, this has been offset by a decline in remortgaging. Economist Paul Samter says house buying activity is running at considerably higher levels than at the start of the year but warns it "remains weak on any historic comparison...