UK mortgage approvals for house purchase rose more than forecast in June

According to the report from Bank of England, the annual growth rate of consumer credit continued to slow in June, falling to 5.5%. Annual growth has fallen steadily since its peak in late 2016, and particularly over the past year reflecting a fall in the average monthly net flow of consumer credit. Since July last year, the net flow has averaged £1.0 billion per month, compared with £1.5 billion per month in the year to June 2018.

Net mortgage borrowing by households was £3.7 billion, close to the average of the previous three years. This followed a slightly weaker net flow of £2.9 billion in May. The annual growth rate of mortgage lending remained stable at 3.1%, around the level that it has been at since 2016.

Mortgage approvals for house purchase (an indicator of future lending) increased by around 800 in June to 66,400 and the number of approvals for remortgaging rose slightly to 47,000. Notwithstanding these small rises, mortgage approvals remained within the narrow ranges seen over the past three years.

Borrowing from banks increased by £2.5 billion in June. During the first half of 2019, borrowing has been stronger than the same period in 2018, and the annual growth rate has, therefore, risen. For non-financial businesses, the growth rate rose to 4.4%. Within this, the growth rate of borrowing by large business rose to 6.4%; and the growth of SME borrowing rose to 0.8%, its highest since August 2017.