Frequently Asked Questions - Monetary Statistics
This is a selection of the most frequently asked questions along with answers. The contents will be updated on an ongoing basis.
Monetary Statistics: If you require any further assistance on this subject please contact us.
Growth Rates
Q. How does the Bank calculate longer-run growth rates.
When I calculate the growth rate from one month's level to the
next I get a different answer to the published one?
A. A flow for each period (i.e. month) is produced, usually
by calculating the difference between the opening and closing
levels and then excluding the effects of any breaks in series,
changes in value etc. The growth rate for the reporting period
is then calculated as this flow divided by the opening level.
The three, six and twelve-month rates are calculated by concatenating
the one-month rates, (rather than dividing the flow for these
longer periods by the opening level) to avoid distortions where
there are breaks in the series. The formulae used in these calculations
can be viewed in the explanatory notes to Bankstats.
Lending to Individuals
Q. When the Bank states that a portfolio of loans has been transferred from a reporter to a non-resident, does this mean that the published numbers reflect the true positions?
A. Yes. The effect of the transfer is removed such that the published data reflect true lending flows. The amounts outstanding are not adjusted for such a transfer.
Q. Does the Bank publish data on the ratio of household debt to disposable income?
A. The Bank does not publish these data on a routine basis, but may make use of them in some of its publications, for example the Financial Stability Report and the Quarterly Bulletin. When used the authors may make the data available on request. Please contact fsr_enquires@bankofengland.co.uk or ma_editor@bankofengland.co.uk for further information.
Q. Does the Bank publish data on consumer delinquencies or consumer loan defaults.
A. The Bank does not produce data on loan delinquencies or defaults, but does produce data on 'write-offs and other revaluations of loans by banks' for credit card and other unsecured lending to individuals. These are covered in Table C2.1 of our monthly publication Monetary & Financial Statistics (Bankstats).
Q. Does the Bank publish data on the average loan size for mortgages in the UK?
A. The Bank does not publish such data.
Q. Does the Bank publish a series measuring the estimated amount outstanding of housing equity withdrawal (HEW) (Previously called Mortgage Equity Withdrawal)?
A. No. The Bank’s estimate of HEW is intended to measure that part of secured borrowing that is not invested in the housing market. It takes the increase in housing finance (net mortgage lending and capital grants) and subtracts households’ investment in housing (purchases of new houses and houses from other sectors, improvements to property, and the transactions costs of moving house). Therefore, HEW is not regarded in stock terms and hence a levels series does not exist.
Q. Why is the number of Mortgage Approvals lower than the number of housing transactions (measured by Land Transaction Returns) taking into account that there is a lag between the two?
A. Not all house purchases require a mortgage, for example when someone who has paid off their mortgage moves house. This would count as a transaction but no mortgage approval would have been made.
Q. Does the Bank publish regional lending to individuals data?
A. No the Bank does not collect such data.
Q. Does the Bank publish data on securitised assets outstanding?
A. The Bank does not collect such data. Securitisations to UK resident special purpose vehicles (SPV) and other transfers between UK resident lenders are included in Table A5.7 ‘Monthly Acquisitions of Mortgage and Consumer Credit Portfolios’ of Monetary and Financial Statistics (Bankstats). Significant securitisations to non-resident SPVs are highlighted on relevant series in Table A5 and can be downloaded with the data from the statistical interactive database.
Q. Where can I find the amount outstanding of personal debt?
A. The amount outstanding of lending to individuals by UK resident institutions can be found in Table A5.2 ‘Monthly Total Lending to Individuals: Net Lending’ in Monetary and Financial Statistics (Bankstats). Net flows are shown for a number of months and the amounts outstanding for the current month. A further breakdown of consumer credit is available on the second page of Table A5.6. The four digit code above each series can be input into the statistical interactive database to download a longer time series with footnotes. Please click here for statistical interactive database help.
Q. Are the secured lending data available split by purpose?
A. The value and number of approvals for secured lending split by purpose are available in Table A5.4 ‘Monthly Lending Secured on Dwellings: Approvals’ in Monetary and Financial Statistics (Bankstats). The Bank does not collect data on gross advances by purpose although the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) produces data which they publish at www.cml.org.uk.
Q. Where can I find further details relating to the Lending to Individuals series?
A. The explanatory notes relating to Lending to Individuals can be found here. Reporting returns that are used to collect the data from banks and other specialist lenders are forms BE, Q1D, MM and MQ.
Q. Do you produce data on market shares of banks’ lending to individuals?
A. The Bank does not publish such data since this would breach individual institutions’ confidentiality.
Q. Does the Bank produce data on commercial mortgages?
A. The Lending to Individuals dataset only captures residential mortgages and does not measure mortgages taken out by commercial institutions. Our M4 lending data does capture commercial lending but it does not separately identify it.
Q. Are there any data available on buy-to-let lending?
A. Buy-to-let lending is included in the Bank’s data for secured lending, but not separately identified. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) produces data which they publish at www.cml.org.uk.
Monetary Aggregates
Q. Can the Bank of England provide M1 statistics?
A. M1 comprised of notes and coin held by the private sector
plus the private sector's non-interest-bearing deposits and
interest-bearing sight deposits held with banks. Since the conversion
of building societies to banks, this statistic has become less
useful and production of it has subsequently ceased.
Users who are looking for a similar statistic are advised to
use M2, the retail component of M4. This comprises of notes
and coin held by the private sector, plus the private sector's
'retail' deposits held with banks and building societies. Banks'
retail deposits are those where the depositor accepts an advertised
rate of interest (including nil) while building societies' retail
deposits include all shares held and deposits made by individuals.
These data can be found in Monetary and Financial Statistics
tables A2.2.1 and A2.2.2, and long runs are available from the
Statistical Interactive Database.
Terminology
Q. Does the Bank publish explanations of the various terms used
in its statistical publications?
A. Definitions for all terms used in the statistical publications
can be found in the explanatory notes of Bankstats.
