Mortgage approvals rose in April whilst net mortgage lending remained down as the Bank of England released its latest set of data Wednesday.

Mortgage approvals rose slightly to 49,871 whilst net mortgage lending disappointed with a sluggish 490 million pounds growth compared with the 700 million increase forecasted.

April's figures remain some way off last year's peak which saw mortgage approvals as high as 60,045 in November, 59,023 in December - before falling to current levels in January.

The levels have been roughly the same since then and economists are worried that the UK housing market faces a year of no growth as the fiscal deficit remains the focus:

"Another set of anaemic money and credit data." said Ross Walker, Economist for RBS, "New mortgage approvals continue to run at roughly half their long-run average and there remains only a trickle of new finance into the residential property market.

"None of this is remotely surprising." he added.

Money supply meanwhile, remained in line with forecasts as M4 - the Bank of England's gauge of sterling in circulation was 3.3 pct higher year on year, but slower month on month.

FTSE Bank of England