BOE Credit Conditions Survey

Supply

• Lenders reported that the availability of secured credit to households was unchanged in the three months to end-November 2020 (Q4). Lenders expected the availability of secured credit to increase over the next three months to end-February 2021 (Q1).

• Lenders reported that the availability of unsecured credit to households increased slightly in Q4 and was expected to remain unchanged over the next quarter.

• Lenders reported that the overall availability of credit to the corporate sector was unchanged in Q4, decreasing for small businesses and remaining unchanged for medium and large firms. Overall availability was not expected to change in Q1.

Demand

• Lenders reported that demand for secured lending for house purchase increased in Q4, but demand for secured lending for remortgaging was unchanged over the same period. Demand for secured lending for house purchase was expected to decrease slightly in Q1, but demand for secured lending for remortgaging was expected to increase slightly.

• Lenders reported that overall demand for unsecured lending increased in Q4, and was expected to increase further in Q1. Within the overall figure, demand for credit card lending increased slightly and demand for other unsecured lending increased in Q4. Demand for credit card lending was expected to increase over the next quarter, with demand for other unsecured lending expected to remain unchanged.

• Lenders reported that demand for corporate lending from small businesses decreased slightly in Q4, and demand from medium sized businesses decreased whereas demand from large private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) increased over the same period. Demand for corporate lending was expected to decrease for small businesses in Q1 but increase for medium and large businesses over the next quarter.