U.K. September net mortgage lending was just GBP 2.17 bln, above our survey median forecast for 0.5 bln and compared to -0.69 bln in August (revised down from 0.14 bln). Meanwhile, new mortgage approvals improved marginally reaching 33k, better than the median estimate for 31k and compares to 32k in August. Overall, though better than expected, today's data still highlight the dire state of the U.K. housing market. And the recent credit crisis intensification, combined with a deteriorating labour market outlook, are likely to keep mortgage lending at very low levels, even as the BoE is expected to cut rates aggressively.