UK’s individuals borrow no additional consumer credit in July

The Bank of England’s (BoE) monthly Money and Credit statistical release revealed that consumer credit in the UK decreased to -GBP0.04 billion in July, following a revised GBP0.31 billion gain in June (originally GBP0.30 billion), indicating that individuals did not borrow additional consumer credit on net. Economists had forecast a GBP0.44 billion advance. In y-o-y terms, consumer credit dropped 2.7 percent in July, following a 2.2 percent drop in June. 

Meanwhile, net mortgage borrowing by the UK households stood at -GBP1.4 billion in July compared to a revised GBP17.7 billion in June (originally GBP17.9 billion). Net repayments are relatively rare, with only one other repayment (in April 2020) in the past decade, the BoE noted. Economists had forecast an increase of GBP3.1 billion. Gross lending decreased to GBP16.5 billion, its lowest level since June 2020, while gross repayments stood at GBP18.1 billion, being little below its twelve-month average.

The report also showed that the number of mortgages approvals for house purchase, an indicator of future borrowing, fell to 75,200 in July (the lowest level since July 2020) from a revised 80,300 (originally 81,300) in June, missing market expectations of 78,600.

Net lending to individuals in the UK was -GBP1.4 billion in July compared to GBP18.0 billion in June.