Overview
These monthly statistics on the amount of, and interest rates on, borrowing and deposits by households and businesses are used by the Bank’s policy committees to understand economic trends and developments in the UK banking system.
Key points:
- Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals rose by £1.2 billion to £5.5 billion in September, the highest since March 2025 (£13.2 billion).
- Net mortgage approvals for house purchase increased by 1,000, to 65,900 in September. By contrast, approvals for remortgaging decreased by 600 over the same period, to 37,200.
- Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals was £1.5 billion in September, down from £1.7 billion in August. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards was little changed at £0.7 billion in September. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit decreased to £0.8 billion, from £1.0 billion over the same period.
- Private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) raised, on net, £0.2 billion of finance in September, following net borrowing of £6.2 billion in the previous month.
- The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) was £13.7 billion in September, compared to £11.2 billion in August. This was largely driven by households increasing their holdings of money by £7.9 billion in September, with households depositing an additional £5.8 billion into interest-bearing sight deposit accounts, £2.4 billion into ISAs, and £0.7 billion into non-interest-bearing accounts.
- The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) was £19.5 billion in September, compared to £10.2 billion in August. September’s lending was driven by increases of £11.1 billion, £5.3 billion, and £3.1 billion in the flow of net lending to NIOFCs, households, and PNFCs respectively.
References in the text point to the summary tables below. For further statistics, please see our visual summaries, Effective Rates (ER) statistical release, Capital Issuance statistical release, and Bankstats tables.
Lending to and deposits from individuals
Mortgage lending (M&C Tables D and E):
Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals rose by £1.2 billion to £5.5 billion in September, the highest since March 2025 (£13.2 billion). The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending increased to 3.2% in September from 3.0% in August, the highest since January 2023 (3.4%). Gross lending amounted to £24.9 billion in September, up from £23.0 billion in the previous month. Gross repayments rose slightly in September, to £20.3 billion from £20.0 billion.
Net mortgage approvals (that is, approvals net of cancellations) for house purchase, which is an indicator of future borrowing, increased by 1,000, to 65,900 in September. Approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) decreased by 600, to 37,200 in September (Chart 1).
Chart 1: Mortgage approvals
Seasonally adjusted
The ‘effective’ interest rate – the actual interest paid – on newly drawn mortgages decreased by 7 basis points to 4.19% in September, the lowest since January 2023 (3.88%), continuing the downward trend observed since March 2025. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages remained unchanged at 3.89%.
Consumer credit (M&C Tables B and C):
Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals was £1.5 billion in September, down from £1.7 billion in August (Chart 2). In September, net borrowing through credit cards was little changed when compared to August at £0.7 billion. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) decreased to £0.8 billion in September, from £1.0 billion in the previous month.
The annual growth rate for all consumer credit rose slightly, to 7.3% in September from 7.2% in August. Over the same period, the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing increased to 10.8% from 10.5%, while the annual growth rate for other forms of consumer credit decreased slightly, to 5.7% from 5.8%.
Chart 2: Consumer credit
Seasonally adjusted
The effective interest rate on interest-charging overdrafts rose by 33 basis points to 21.86% in September. The effective rate on new personal loans to individuals increased slightly in September, to 8.34% from 8.32%. Similarly, the effective rate on interest-charging credit cards also increased slightly to 21.44% in September from 21.42% in August.
Households’ deposits (M&C Table J):
Households’ deposits with banks and building societies increased by £7.9 billion in September. The increase was driven by households depositing an additional £5.8 billion into interest-bearing sight deposit accounts, £2.4 billion into ISAs, and £0.7 billion into non-interest-bearing accounts (Chart 3). These inflows were slightly offset by withdrawals of £1.5 billion from interest-bearing time deposit accounts.
Chart 3: Breakdown of households’ deposits (Household M4)
Seasonally adjusted net flow
The effective interest rate paid on individuals’ new time deposits with banks and building societies was 3.82% in September, up from 3.79% in August. The effective rate on the outstanding stock of time deposits decreased by 7 basis points and now stands at 3.42%, continuing the downward trend observed since September 2024. The effective rate on the outstanding stock of sight deposits decreased slightly, to 1.81% in September from 1.84% in August.
Lending to and deposits from businesses
Businesses’ borrowing from banks (M&C Tables G-I):
In September, UK non-financial businesses – private non-financial companies (PNFCs) and public corporations – repaid, on net, £0.4 billion of loans from banks and building societies (including overdrafts), compared with £3.8 billion of net borrowing in August. Within this measure, large non-financial businesses repaid, on net, £0.3 billion of loans in September, following net borrowing of £3.9 billion in the previous month. Net repayments by small and medium-sized non-financial businesses (SMEs) were little changed from August at £0.1 billion in September.
The annual growth rate of borrowing by large businesses was 8.3% in September, down from 8.7% in August. The annual growth rate of borrowing by SMEs increased to 1.6% from 1.3% over the same period (Chart 4).
Chart 4: Annual growth of lending to SMEs and large businesses
Seasonally adjusted
The effective interest rate on new loans from banks to UK PNFCs decreased by 14 basis points, to 5.54% in September. The effective interest rate on new loans to SMEs was 6.18% in September, down from 6.35% in the previous month.
Net Finance Raised (M&C Table F):
PNFCs raised, on net, £0.2 billion of finance in September, following net borrowing of £6.2 billion in August. This was driven by £3.9 billion of net borrowing through loans from banks and building societies, and £2.1 billion of net bond issuances. These were largely offset by £1.9 billion of net equity buybacks, and £0.8 billion of net commercial paper redemptions (Chart 5).
Chart 5: Net finance raised by PNFCs
Seasonally adjusted net flow
Businesses’ deposits:
In September, UK non-financial businesses deposited, on net, £8.7 billion with banks and building societies in all currencies, following net withdrawals of £2.8 billion in August. The effective rate on new time deposits from PNFCs decreased for the sixth consecutive month, to 3.49% in September from 3.54% in August. Similarly, the effective rate on stock sight deposits decreased by 5 basis points to 2.07% over the same period.
Aggregate money (M4ex) and lending (M4Lex) (M&C Tables J and K)
The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) was £13.7 billion in September, compared to £11.2 billion in the previous month. Within this, households increased their holdings of money by £7.9 billion in September. Similarly, non-intermediate other financial corporations (NIOFCs) and PNFCs increased their holdings of money by £3.2 billion and £2.6 billion respectively.
The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) was £19.5 billion in September, compared to £10.2 billion in August. September’s lending was driven by increases of £11.1 billion, £5.3 billion, and £3.1 billion in the flow of net lending to NIOFCs, households, and PNFCs respectively.
Queries
If you have any comments or queries about this release, please email DSD_MS@bankofengland.co.uk.
Next release date: 1 December 2025
