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 decreased to £4.4 billion in April, from £6.8 billion in March, below the previous 6-month average of £5.1 billion.
- Net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to 65,900 in April, above an average of around 63,100 over the previous six months. Approvals for remortgaging were broadly unchanged when compared to March.
- Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals remained unchanged at £1.9 billion in April, in line with the previous 6-month average of £1.9 billion. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards was £0.8 billion in April, up from £0.7 billion in March. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) decreased to £1.0 billion in April, from £1.2 billion in March.
- Private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) borrowed, on net, £5.5 billion of finance in April, following net borrowing of £3.7 billion in March. Within total net finance raised, bank loans amounted to £4.4 billion in April, following £10.0 billion net borrowing in March.
- The net flow of sterling money (M4ex) fell to £9.2 billion in April, from £23.2 billion in March. NIOFCs’ net deposits decreased to £4.6 billion, from £12.4 billion, while PNFCs saw net withdrawals of £1.2 billion, compared to deposits of £5.2 billion in March. This was partially offset by households, whose holdings increased by £5.8 billion from £5.6 billion, reflected in net deposits into ISAs of £12.0 billion and non-interest-bearing accounts of £1.3 billion, offset by withdrawals from interest-bearing sight of £13.1 billion and time deposits £0.3 billion in April.
- The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) decreased to £11.6 billion in April, from £20.8 billion in March. April’s lending was driven by households, PNFCs, and NIOFCs borrowing £5.0 billion, £4.5 billion and £2.1 billion, compared with £6.2 billion, £6.3 billion and £8.3 billion in March, 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 decreased to £4.4 billion in April, from £6.8 billion in March, below the previous 6-month average of £5.1 billion. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending increased slightly to 3.3% in April, from 3.0% in March.
Secured gross lending decreased slightly to £27.5 billion in April, from £28.7 billion in March, still slightly above the 6-month average of £24.8 billion. Repayments increased in April to £22.7 billion, from £19.8 billion in March, above the 6-month average of £19.7 billion.
Note: The difference between gross lending minus repayments and net lending figures is due to varying seasonal adjustment methods applied across these series (see Chart 1).
Chart 1: Secured lending inc. house purchase, remortgaging and other advances
Seasonally adjusted
Net mortgage approvals (that is, approvals net of cancellations) for house purchases, which is an indicator of future borrowing, increased to 65,900 in April, from 64,000 in March. Approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) were broadly unchanged when compared to March.
Chart 2: Mortgage approvals
Seasonally adjusted
The ‘effective’ interest rate – the actual interest paid – on newly drawn mortgages increased, to 4.08% in April, from 4.03% in March. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages was 3.92% in April, down from 3.93% in March.
Consumer credit (M&C Tables B and C):
In April, net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals remained largely unchanged at £1.9 billion (Chart 3), in line with the previous 6-month average of £1.9 billion. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards was £0.8 billion in April, up from £0.7 billion in March. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) decreased to £1.0 billion in April from £1.2 billion in March.
Chart 3: Consumer credit
Seasonally adjusted
The annual growth rate for all consumer credit decreased to 8.8% in April. Over the same period, the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing decreased to 11.8% from 12.3%, and the annual growth rate for other forms of consumer credit remained unchanged at 7.4% (Chart 4).
Chart 4: Consumer credit growth
Seasonally adjusted
The effective interest rate on interest-charging overdrafts increased by 13 basis points, to 21.79% in April. The effective rate on new personal loans to individuals increased to 9.53% in April from 9.09% in March. The effective rate on interest-charging credit cards decreased in April to 21.20%, from 21.63% in March.
Households’ deposits (M&C Table J):
Households’ deposits with banks and building societies increased to £5.8 billion in April, following net deposits of £5.6 billion in March. This was driven by households depositing an additional £12.0 billion into ISAs and £1.3 billion into non-interest-bearing accounts. These inflows were offset by withdrawals of £13.1 billion from interest-bearing sight deposit accounts and £0.3 billion from interest-bearing time accounts (Chart 5).
Chart 5: 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 increased to 4.07% in April, from 3.76% in March. The effective rates on the outstanding stock of time and sight deposits were 3.29% and 1.65% respectively, compared to 3.28% and 1.68% in March.
Lending to and deposits from businesses
Businesses’ borrowing from banks (M&C Tables G-I):
In April, UK non-financial businesses (PNFCs and public corporations) borrowed, on net, £5.2 billion of loans from banks and building societies (including overdrafts), following £5.9 billion of net borrowing in March. Within this measure, large non-financial businesses borrowed £4.2 billion, following net borrowing of £5.0 billion in March. Small and medium-sized non-financial businesses (SMEs) borrowed, on net, £1 billion in April, following net borrowing of £0.8 billion in March.
The annual growth rate of borrowing by large businesses increased to 12.3% in April, from 11.7% in March. The annual growth rate of borrowing by SMEs increased to 4.2%, from 3.7% over the same period (Chart 6).
Chart 6: Annual growth of lending to SMEs and large businesses
Seasonally adjusted
The effective interest rate on new loans from banks to UK PNFCs remained unchanged, at 5.52% in April. The effective interest rate on new loans to SMEs increased 5 basis points, to 6.16% over the same period.
Net Finance Raised (M&C Table F):
PNFCs borrowed, on net, £5.5 billion of finance in April, following net borrowing of £3.7 billion in March. This was driven by £4.4 billion of net borrowing through loans from banks and building societies and £1.0 billion of net commercial paper issuance. These increases were offset by £1.6 billion of net equity buybacks, and £0.2 billion of net bond redemptions (Chart 7).
Chart 7: Net finance raised by PNFCs
Seasonally adjusted net flow
Businesses’ deposits:
In April, UK non-financial businesses withdrew £7.4 billion with banks and building societies in all currencies, following net deposits of £18.0 billion in March. The effective rate on new time deposits from PNFCs increased by 7 basis points to 3.44% in April, while the effective rate on stock sight deposits increased to 1.94%, from 1.92% in the previous month.
Aggregate money (M4ex) and lending (M4Lex) (M&C Tables J and K)
The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) decreased to £9.2 billion in April, from £23.2 billion in March (Chart 8). Within this, non-intermediate other financial corporations (NIOFCs) decreased to £4.6 billion in April from £12.4 billion in March, and PNFCs saw net withdrawals of £1.2 billion in April, from net deposits of £5.2 billion in March. This was partially offset by households increasing their holdings of money by £5.8 billion in April, from £5.6 billion in March.
The annual growth rate of M4ex increased to 4.6% in April, from 4.5% in March.
The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) was £11.6 billion in April, compared to £20.8 billion in March (Chart 9). Within this, lending to
NIOFCs decreased to £2.1 billion in April from £8.3 billion in March. PNFCs and households also decreased to £4.5 billion and £5.0 billion in April respectively.
The annual growth rate of M4Lex increased to 6.4% in April, from 6.0% in March.
Chart 8: M4ex sectoral components flows
Seasonally adjusted
Chart 9: M4Lex sectoral components flows
Seasonally adjusted
Chart 10: Annual growth of M4ex and M4Lex
Queries
If you have any comments or queries about this release, please email DSD_MS@bankofengland.co.uk.
Next release date: 29th June 2026
