Bank of England Money and Credit – December 2024
These monthly statistics on the amount of, and interest rates on, borrowing and deposits by households and businesses are used by the Bank’s policy committees to understand economic trends and developments in the UK banking system.
Key points:
Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals rose by £1.0 billion, to £3.6 billion in December.
Net mortgage approvals for house purchases slightly increased to 66,500 in December, compared to a decrease of 2,300 in November.
Approvals for remortgaging decreased by 700 to 30,500, falling for a second consecutive month.
Mortgage lending
Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased by £1.0 billion to £3.6 billion in December, following a decrease in net borrowing of £0.9 billion in November. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending rose to 1.5% in December from 1.3% in November, continuing the upward trend observed since April 2024. Gross lending increased to £21.3 billion in December, from £20.8 billion in November, while gross repayments increased to £18.5 billion from £18.1 billion.
Net mortgage approvals (that is, approvals net of cancellations) for house purchases, which is an indicator of future borrowing, increased by 500 to 66,500 in December, following a fall of 2,300 in November. Approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) decreased by 700 to 30,500 in December, falling for a second consecutive month
The ‘effective’ interest rate – the actual interest paid – on newly drawn mortgages decreased by 3 basis points, to 4.47% in December, the lowest since April 2023. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages remained broadly unchanged in December at 3.79%.
Read the full report here.
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