NORTHERN ROCK BOOSTS LENDING

Chief executive Gary Hoffman said the state-owned bank lent £1billion to take lending to £2.3billion for the year to date. He was “confident” of hitting a £4billion target for this year.

However, the bank warned the housing market remained sluggish. Outgoing UKFI boss John Kingman said there was a “fair amount of interest” from smaller international banks for the “good” parts of Northern Rock.