The BBA has published its High Street Banking Statistics for April 2016

Key points:

– Gross mortgage borrowing of £12bn in the month was 12% higher than in April 2015. As expected, this was a slower month, following the inflated lending activity associated with borrowers completing purchases ahead of the stamp duty increase.
– House purchase approval numbers have resumed a downward trend after seeing increased activity during the three previous months which were influenced by the stamp duty change. Numbers were some 6% lower than in April 2015.
Dr Rebecca Harding, chief economic advisor at the BBA, said:

“As expected, growth in mortgage lending has fallen back sharply on last month proving that March’s results were just a Stamp Duty spike. Net mortgage borrowing is nevertheless 3% higher than a year ago.

“Separately, the fact that personal deposits are growing while ISA deposits continue to under-perform suggests consumers are using easy-access savings while the outlook for the economy remains uncertain. The increase in real wage growth may start to have positive knock-on effects on long-term savings if it is sustained.”

The statistics can be viewed here