Bank of England Money and Credit Report – February 2025
Overview
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 decreased by £0.9 billion, to £3.3 billion in February, following an increase in net borrowing of £0.8 billion in January.
Net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased by 600 to 65,500 in February, following a decrease of 400 in January. Approvals for remortgaging decreased by 800 to 32,000, following an increase of 2,100 in the previous month.
Net consumer credit borrowing by individuals was £1.4 billion in February, down from £1.7 billion in the previous month. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards decreased to £0.8 billion from £1.1 billion.
During February, private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) repaid, on net, £1.2 billion of finance, compared to net repayments of £2.3 billion in January.
The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) was £1.2 billion in February, compared to £25.1 billion in January. Within this, households and non-intermediate other financial corporations (NIOFCs) increased their holdings of money, by £4.3 billion and £1.2 billion respectively, while PNFCs decreased their holdings of money by £4.3 billion.
The net flow of sterling lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) was £5.1 billion in February, compared to £8.2 billion in January. Households accounted for £4.2 billion of the February flow.
Lending to and deposits from individuals
Mortgage lending
Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased by £0.9 billion to £3.3 billion in February, following an increase in net borrowing of £0.8 billion in January. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending was little changed at 1.9% in February. Gross lending increased to £24.3 billion in February, from £21.7 billion in January, and was the highest since November 2022 (£24.9 billion). Gross repayments also increased in February, to £19.8 billion from £16.3 billion.
Net mortgage approvals (that is, approvals net of cancellations) for house purchases, which is an indicator of future borrowing, decreased by 600 to 65,500 in February, following a decrease of 400 in January. Approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) decreased by 800 to 32,000 in February, following an increase of 2,100 in January.
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