Bank of England Mortgage Approvals and Lending August 2021

• Annual growth in secured lending rose by 5.3% in August, from 5.2% in the previous month. 
  • Consumers borrowed £5.3bn of mortgage debt, following a net repayment of £1.8 billion in the July following the initial tapering of the stamp duty holiday. 

• The number of mortgage approvals fell back in August, totalling 74,453 from 75,126 in July, the lowest level since July 2020 but ahead of pre-pandemic levels. 
  • This was above expectations of a c.73,000 rise.
  • Compared with the same month a year ago, mortgage approvals fell by 15%. 

• The number of re-mortgaging approvals continued to rise, totalling 39,673 in August, up on the 37,816 in the previous month and ahead of the previous six-month average (35,466).  

• This is the highest level since March 2020 but remains lower than levels seen in the lead up to the pandemic.

Source: Bank of England

• Annual growth in unsecured lending continued to decline in August, falling by 2.4% from -2.6% in July. 
  • Households borrowed £0.4 billion of consumer credit, following no additional borrowing in July. 
  • Within this, individuals borrowed an additional £0.2bn of ‘other’ forms of consumer credit and £0.2bn in credit card debt.

Source: Bank of England

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