UK consumer credit and mortgage lending rise by less than expected in October

Lending to individuals edged higher in October even as mortgage borrowing hit a three-month low.

According to Bank of England, total lending to individuals increased by 0.1% month-on-month or £2.3bn to reach £1.75trn, for a 4.4% rise year-on-year.

Within that, consumer credit increased by a net £0.7bn last month (consensus: £0.5bn) to reach £196.4bn, or by 0.4% on the month, even as the effective rate on new personal loans hit 6.27% - its highest since March 2020, although it remained beneath its January 2020 level.

Credit card debt accounted for the bulk of the increase, jumping by 1.1% or £600m versus September.

In comparison to a year earlier, consumer credit was down by 1.0%, against a 1.7% drop in September.

Mortgage borrowing meanwhile edged up by 0.1% on the month or £1.6bn (consensus: £5.0bn) to reach £1.55trn, although the annual rate of change slowed from 5.4% in the month before to 5.1%.

That followed a £9.3bn jump in September, when borrowing was brought forward to take advantage of stamp duy land tax relief before it was completey tapered off, Bank explained.

The number of mortgage approvals for home purchase on the other hand eased from 71,851 in September to 67,199.

Large businesses also borrowed more from lenders last month, to the tune of £2.0bn, offset by small and medium-sized businesses, which repaid £1.6bn.