The Council of Mortgage Lenders recently published its forecasts for the housing and mortgage market in 2012, after confirming that it expects gross lending in for 2011 to reach a total of £138 billion, with net lending accounting for £9 billion. It is forecasting gross lending for next year to reach £133 billion, with net lending accounting for £5 billion based on current predictions for a weaker economy.

It is estimated that housing transaction numbers will reach 852,000 this year while figures for next year are expected to be around 825,000. However the CML is forecasting more repossessions next year due to continued pressures on household finances. Repossessions reached 37,000 this year but it’s anticipated this figure will increase to 45,000 next year. This is still less than the repossession figures for 2009, and is much lower than during the economic downturn in the nineties.

In short, the CML is expecting the housing market to remain largely flat during next year, and doesn’t expect this to change significantly until incomes become more stable and inflation is properly uinder control. It points out that if a sustainable answer is found to the Eurozone problems then this could significantly improve the outlook for UK growth, boosting household confidence, and confidence in the housing market.