Council of Mortgage Lenders warns it is too early to spot pattern of recovery for housing market

Gross mortgage lending dropped by about 9% to £10.4bn in April, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The figure is down 60% from £26.1bn in April 2008.

Michael Coogan, the Council of Mortgage Lenders' director general, said: “It's still too early to spot a clear pattern of recovery in the housing market as some commentators have suggested.

“Activity remains weak, and we have said we will see volatility in monthly lending figures as we bounce along at the bottom of the market. Our forecast for gross lending of £145bn in 2009 remains unchanged.”

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