Money and Credit – October 2025
December 1, 2025
Key points:
- Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals fell back to £4.3 billion in October, after a rise to £5.2 billion in September.
- In October, net mortgage approvals for house purchase decreased by 600 to 65,000, while approvals for remortgaging fell by 3,600 to 33,100, the lowest since February 2025 (32,900).
- Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals decreased for the second consecutive month, to £1.1 billion in October from £1.4 billion in September. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards slightly decreased, to £0.6 billion from £0.7 billion. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit was £0.5 billion in October, down from £0.7 billion in September.
- Private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) repaid, on net, £4.8 billion of finance in October, the highest level of net repayments since October 2023 (£5.5 billion).
- The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) was £8.5 billion in October, compared to £14.2 billion in September. This was largely driven by households increasing their holdings of money by £6.8 billion in October, with households depositing an additional £5.5 billion into interest-bearing sight deposit accounts, £4.2 billion into ISAs, and £0.3 billion into interest-bearing time deposit accounts.
- The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) was £13.0 billion in October, compared to £19.6 billion in September. October’s lending was driven by NIOFCs and households borrowing £8.2 billion and £4.7 billion respectively, while net borrowing by PNFCs was zero.
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments:
“Speculation surrounding the Autumn Budget may have played a role in contributing towards a decrease in the number of mortgage approvals during this period.
“While it is understandable to see a lull regarding mortgage activity on the months leading up to the Chancellor making their fiscal plans known, it is now time to concentrate on ensuring the housing market is fully empowered for already anticipated population growth, via assembling a skilled workforce and supply chain to deliver on housing targets across each nation in what is already demanding timeframe to achieve.”
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