Bank of England Mortgage Approvals and Lending December 2023

Annual growth in unsecured lending rose by 8.5% in December from an 8.6% rise last month.
Consumers borrowed an additional £1.2bn in consumer credit on net, falling from last month’s £2.1bn.
The easing was driven by borrowing through credit cards which fell to £0.3bn in December from £1.0bn in November. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit edged lower to £0.9bn in December (from £1.1bn last month).
Mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 50,459 in December, from 49,313 in November. This was the highest figure since June and ahead of the previous six-month average of 48,460.
Individuals repaid, on net, £0.8bn of mortgage debt in December compared to zero in November.
Notably, the annual growth rate for net mortgage lending was flat for the first time on record.
The ‘effective’ interest rate (the actual interest paid) on newly drawn mortgages fell marginally to 5.28% in December – the first drop since November 2021.
Approvals for remortgaging also rose to 30,833 from 25,659 in November.