Borrowing levels continue to rise

Borrowers continued to increase their debts last month with mortgage lending rising by ?2bn from February, while credit card borrowing rose at its fastest pace for three years.

Among a raft of figures from the sector, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said gross mortgage lending totalled ?19.3bn in March, up from ?17.6bn in February.

The CML described the mortgage market as "performing very strongly", although it added that remortgaging was the main driver of the current buoyancy, accounting for 50% of all lending at ?9.6bn.

The view was endorsed by the British Bankers' Association (BBA), which said mortgage lending growth was very similar to recent months, rising ?4.8bn in March.

The organisation, which represents the major banking groups, said card borrowing also saw its strongest monthly growth since May 2000. Credit card borrowing increased by ?406m in March compared with a ?181m rise in February.

BBA director David Dooks said: "Consumers remained very active in March, and mortgage lending continued to grow at the high, yet stable, level of the last nine months or so."

Other figures today from the Building Societies Association reported a significant leap in mortgage approvals on a year ago, but slightly down on last month.

Director general Adrian Coles said consumers had continued to take advantage of the competitive market and low interest rates by remortgaging.