29th Oct 2026 09:44
(Alliance News) - UK mortgage approvals declined in September, while household borrowing slowed and mortgage interest rates edged higher, according to figures released by the Bank of England on Thursday.
Net mortgage approvals for house purchases fell to 53,400 in September from 54,800 in August, below the previous six-month average of 58,800.
Approvals for remortgaging, meanwhile, increased to 42,600 from 34,000.
Net mortgage borrowing by individuals declined to GBP3.9 billion from GBP4.2 billion in August, below the previous six-month average of GBP4.9 billion.
The effective interest rate on newly drawn mortgages rose to 4.63% in September from 4.60% in August, while the rate on outstanding mortgages increased to 4.03% from 4.00%.
Consumer credit borrowing also slowed, falling to GBP1.9 billion from GBP2.7 billion in August. Within this, credit card borrowing declined to GBP700 million from GBP1.3 billion, while other consumer credit borrowing eased to GBP1.2 billion from GBP1.4 billion.
The annual growth rate of consumer credit edged up to 9.8% from 9.7%.
UK households deposited GBP4.7 billion with banks and building societies in September, the BoE said, compared with GBP4.9 billion in August, including GBP5.0 billion into individual savings accounts.
UK non-financial businesses borrowed a net GBP9.3 billion in bank loans during September, up from GBP4.7 billion in August, driven by increased borrowing among large businesses.
The annual growth rate of broad money, measured by M4ex, slowed to 4.0% in September from 4.5% in August.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News senior economics reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.