Overview
These monthly statistics on borrowing and deposits by households and businesses are used by the Bank’s policy committees to understand economic trends and developments in the banking system.
Key points:
- The net flow of consumer credit was £0.6 billion in November, the smallest flow since November 2013.
- Lending in the mortgage market continued to be steady in November, and in line with levels seen over the past three years. Net mortgage borrowing fell marginally to £4.1 billion, and mortgage approvals for house purchase remained unchanged at 65,000.
- UK businesses borrowed £0.9 billion of finance in November, below the previous six-month average of £2.3 billion.
References in the text point to the summary tables below. For further statistics, please see our interactive charts and Bankstats tables.
Lending to individuals (Tables A-E)
Consumer credit (Tables B and C):
The extra amount borrowed by consumers in order to buy goods and services fell to £0.6 billion in November. This is the weakest since November 2013, and below the £1.1 billion average seen since July 2018. Within this, there was a net repayment of credit cards for the first time since July 2013, of £0.1 billion. Net borrowing for other loans and advances also weakened, to £0.7 billion.
These weak flows mean the annual growth rate of consumer credit fell to 5.7% in November, compared to 6.1% in October. It has now fallen 3.7 percentage points since July 2018, when it was 9.4%.
Chart 1: Consumer credit
Seasonally adjusted
Mortgage lending (Tables D and E):
Mortgage market data point to continued stability. Net mortgage borrowing by households was £4.1 billion in November, and the annual growth rate remained within the broad range it has been for the last three years, at 3.3%. Mortgage approvals for house purchase (an indicator for future lending) were unchanged in November, at 65,000, remaining within the narrow range seen over the past two years. Approvals for remortgage fell slightly on the month to 48,400.
Lending to businesses (Tables F-I)
Businesses can raise funds by borrowing from banks (via loans) or from financial markets (via instruments such as bonds and commercial paper, or with equity). In November, UK businesses borrowed £0.9 billion of finance from these sources. Both borrowing from banks and money raised in financial markets were subdued.
Firms borrowed £0.3 billion from financial markets in November. Within this, net commercial paper issuance recovered from a weak October to £0.7 billion, above the previous six-month average. This was partially offset by £0.3 billion of net repayments of bonds in November, reflecting weaker gross issuance. This was the lowest net issuance of bonds since February 2019. Net equity issuance was broadly stable at -£0.1 billion.
Borrowing from banks increased by £0.3 billion in November, weaker than the previous six-month average of £1.2 billion. These weaker flows resulted in a fall in the annual growth rate to 3.5%. Within this, the growth rate of borrowing from large businesses and SMEs fell to 4.9% and 1.0% respectively.
Chart 2: Net financed raised by PNFCs1
Seasonally adjusted
1. There is a discrepancy between the total of net finance raised and its components due to the seasonal adjustment methodology.
Broad money (Table J)
Broad money (M4ex) is a measure of the amount of money held by households, non-financial businesses (PNFCs) and financial companies that do not act as intermediaries, such as pension funds or insurance companies (NIOFCs). Total money holdings in November rose by £13.7 billion, stronger than the average of the previous six months.
The amount of money held by households rose by £4.7 billion in November, in line with recent months. The amount of money held by PNFCs increased slightly, by £3.0 billion, whilst NIOFC money holdings, which are usually volatile, rose by £6.0 billion.
Chart 3: Broad money by sector
Seasonally adjusted
Queries
If you have any comments or queries about this release please email DSD_MS@bankofengland.co.uk.
Next release date: 31 January 2020