Mortgage lending declined, reports London Mortgage Broker, London Mortgage Advice Tuesday, 22nd December 2009

It has been claimed that figures which show mortgage lending declined in November are "surprising",

Changes to the stamp duty threshold on January 1st should have heightened housing market activity in November and December
according to Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at independent mortgage advisor John Charcol,.

Lending slipped by ten per cent in November on levels seen in the previous month research conducted by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) shows.

Mr Boulger confirmed, "One would have expected, if anything, that [mortgage lending] would slightly increase in November and December as people aimed to complete before the end of the year."

The stamp duty threshold will be reduced from £175,000 to £125,000 at the beginning of the new year.This means that first-time buyers will have to find more money to climb onto the first rung of the property ladder as they will no longer benefit from the tax break introduced by the chancellor of the exchequer in September 2008.This news comes soon after the National Association of Estate Agents reported that just 19 per cent of those who registered to purchase a home in November were first-time buyers.