British lenders approved the fewest mortgages in more than a year last month, as evidence mounts that a big rebound in housing market activity over the past year has come off the boil. The Bank of England said mortgage approvals for house purchase fell to 61,267 in September, down from 64,054 in August -- a bigger fall than economists had forecast though similar to the decline reported last week by the British Bankers' Association. Earlier this year BoE Governor Mark Carney said a rapid build-up in household debt linked to rising house prices posed the greatest domestic threat to sustainable economic recovery in ... (full story)