Mortgage lending is still booming, according to figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

A fresh record was set in August with a total of £32.7bn lent, 7% up on July and 21% higher than a year ago.

So once again Britain surges ahead in a euphoria of optimism created by Mr Gordon Brown. And hell why not? Okay inflation has risen a little, hence so have interest rates but it’s nothing significant. The fact is everybody wants to be a homeowner and it’s never been easier. You don’t even have to put yourself out on a limb, with a huge array of mortgage lenders providing 4-6 times your salary. Of course a buoyant housing market is good news for all, especially retailers, so today’s news that Woolworths is making record losses is a surprise and adds to the concern of the small losses from both Homebase and B&Q. What it could suggest, is that this generation of homeowners are mortgaged to the hilt and that any home improvement or renovation has been scheduled in for the long-term.

Some say that if it’s your own rathole then you should be able to put up with the previous owners textured floral pink wallpaper and 70s fake log fire, but why put up with the discomfort, when the loans market has never been so competitive? The choice is there for everyone, just type in ‘secured loans’ and 1000s of companies will appear on the major search engines. If you don’t fancy rooting around, companies like Betterlending will search 100s of loans for you, so that you install that Arga, powershower and conservatory almost immediately.