CML backs Bank's Trends in Lending report

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has backed the Bank of England's new Trends in Lending report and urged chancellor Alistair Darling to use its findings to help make decisions about today's budget.

Constructed using figures from the Bank's own statistics, as well as those provided by the six other lenders contributing to the Lending Panel set up my the chancellor, the report confirms the CML's view that there has been a small pick-up in housing market activity of late.

However transactions remain at a low level in comparison with recent years and some may be tempted to stay put and improve their current property rather than move.

"In his Budget tomorrow, the chancellor needs to build on the work of the Lending Panel with measures to enable all types of lenders … to provide more mortgage funding," the CML said in a statement.

The body wants the government to extend and simplify low-cost home-ownership and to help first-time buyers by raising the stamp duty threshold to £250,000.

It recently released its own figures showing mortgage lending had risen between February and March, but was still 52 per cent lower than in March 2008.