Jump in approval rate on house purchases in October

Based on the Bank of England’s latest money and credit figures, net approvals for remortgaging also increased – going up from 20,600 to 23,700. Individuals, meanwhile, repaid – on net – £100m of mortgage debt in October, this is compared to the £1bn of net repayments made in September.  

The figures from the UK’s central bank also shows the market’s gross lending rate fell from £18.1bn to £16.2bn, while gross repayments decreased from £19.5bn to £17.2bn.  

Following this trend, the net consumer credit borrowing rate fell by £100m between September and October – going from £1.4bn to £1.3bn. This was driven by the decrease in net borrowing through credit cards from £600m to £500m, while the net borrowing on other forms of consumer credit remained stable at £800m during the same period.  

Commenting on this, Equifax UK’s chief data and analytics officer Paul Heywood said: “This slump alongside a drop in mortgage lending, suggests consumers may be shying away from spending, ahead of the Christmas period.  

“With this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday having just passed, there will be many hoping there will be a return to form for retail, with consumer borrowing likely to play a part here. Equifax’s latest survey data on consumer spending shows nearly a third of consumers would be using BNPL products for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Christmas.

“With consumers feeling the pressure to spend, and economic headwinds persisting, consumers will need to ensure they can afford the repayments and educate themselves on the risks of these products.”