Money and Credit - March 2026

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 increased to £6.2 billion in March, from £5.2 billion in February, above the previous 6-month average of £4.9 billion.
• Net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to 63,500 in March from 62,700 in February, above an average of around 63,200 over the previous 6 months. Approvals for remortgaging increased to 51,300 in March, from 41,200 in February.
• Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals slightly decreased to £1.9 billion in March from £2.0 billion in February, slightly above the previous 6-month average of £1.8 billion. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards remained unchanged when compared to February, at £0.7 billion in March. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) was £1.2 billion in March, down from £1.3 billion in February.
• Private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) borrowed, on net, £3.6 billion of finance in March, following net borrowing of £2.9 billion in February. Within total net finance raised, bank loans amounted to £9.9 billion of net borrowing in March, following £4.3 billion of net borrowing in February.
• The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) increased to £22.1 billion in March, from £14.2 billion in February. This was driven by NIOFCs, households, and PNFCs increasing their holdings of money by £11.3 billion, £5.5 billion, and £5.3 billion respectively. Within this, households deposited £4.4 billion into ISAs and £3.0 billion into interest-bearing sight deposit accounts.
• The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) increased to £20.8 billion in March, following a decrease to -£2.8 billion in February. March’s lending was driven by NIOFCs, households, and PNFCs borrowing £8.2 billion, £6.3 billion and £6.2 billion respectively, compared with -£10.9 billion, £5.5 billion, and £2.6 billion in February, 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 increased to £6.2 billion in March, from £5.2 billion in February, above the previous 6-month average of £4.9 billion. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending decreased to 3.0% in March, from 3.4% in February.

Secured gross lending increased to £28.7 billion in March, up from £24.0 billion in February, above the 6-month average of £23.9 billion. Repayments increased in March, to £19.7 billion, from £18.6 billion in February, slightly below the 6-month average of £19.8 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).

Net mortgage approvals (that is, approvals net of cancellations) for house purchases, which is an indicator of future borrowing, increased to 63,500 in March, from 62,700 in February, above an average of around 63,200 over the previous 6 months. Approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) also increased, to 51,300 in March, from 41,200 in February.

The ‘effective’ interest rate – the actual interest paid – on newly drawn mortgages decreased, to 4.03% in March, from 4.10% in February. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages was 3.93% in March, down from 3.95% in February.

Consumer credit (M&C Tables B and C):

In March, net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals slightly decreased to £1.9 billion, from £2.0 billion in February (Chart 3), slightly above the previous 6-month average of £1.8 billion. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards remained unchanged when compared to February, at £0.7 billion in March. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) was £1.2 billion in March, down from £1.3 billion in February.

The annual growth rate for all consumer credit increased to 8.9% in March, from 8.6% in February. Over the same period, the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing increased to 12.3% from 12.1%, and the annual growth rate for other forms of consumer credit increased to 7.4% from 7.0% (Chart 4).

The effective interest rate on interest-charging overdrafts decreased by 34 basis points, to 21.66% in March. Over the same period, the effective rate on new personal loans to individuals increased to 9.09% from 9.06%. The effective rate on interest-charging credit cards decreased to 21.63% in March, from 21.65% in February.

Households’ deposits (M&C Table J):

Households’ deposits with banks and building societies increased by £5.5 billion in March, following net deposits of £6.2 billion in February. This was driven by households depositing an additional £4.4 billion into ISAs, and £3.0 billion into interest-bearing sight deposit accounts. These inflows were partially offset by withdrawals of £1.9 billion from interest-bearing time accounts, and £1.2 billion from non-interest bearing accounts (Chart 5).

The effective interest rate paid on individuals’ new time deposits with banks and building societies increased to 3.76% in March, from 3.67% in February. The effective rates on the outstanding stock of time and sight deposits were 3.28% and 1.68% respectively, compared to 3.31% and 1.72% in February.

Lending to and deposits from businesses

Businesses’ borrowing from banks (M&C Tables G-I):

In March, UK non-financial businesses (PNFCs and public corporations) borrowed, on net, £7.0 billion of loans from banks and building societies (including overdrafts), following £4.2 billion of net borrowing in February. Within this measure, large non-financial businesses borrowed £5.0 billion, following net borrowing of £3.7 billion in February. Small- and medium-sized non-financial businesses (SMEs) borrowed, on net, £2.0 billion in March, following net borrowing of £0.5 billion in February.

The annual growth rate of borrowing by large businesses increased to 11.7% in March, from 10.6% in February. The annual growth rate of borrowing by SMEs increased to 3.7% from 2.9% over the same period (Chart 6).

The effective interest rate on new loans from banks to UK PNFCs decreased by 14 basis points, to 5.52% in March. The effective interest rate on new loans to SMEs decreased by 15 basis points, to 6.11% over the same period.

Net Finance Raised (M&C Table F):

PNFCs borrowed, on net, £3.6 billion of finance in March, following net borrowing of £2.9 billion in February. This was driven by £9.9 billion of net borrowing through loans from banks and building societies, and £0.3 billion of net commercial paper issuance. These increases were partially offset by £2.5 billion of net bond redemptions and £2.3 billion of net equity buybacks (Chart 7).

Businesses’ deposits:

In March, UK non-financial businesses deposited £18.2 billion with banks and building societies in all currencies, following net withdrawals of £2.5 billion in February. The effective rate on new time deposits from PNFCs increased by 9 basis points to 3.37% in March, while the effective rate on stock sight deposits decreased to 1.92%, from 1.94% 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) increased to £22.1 billion in March, from £14.2 billion in February (Chart 8). March’s deposits were driven by NIOFCs, households, and PNFCs increasing their holdings of money by £11.3 billion, £5.5 billion, and £5.3 respectively, compared to £6.8 billion, £6.2 billion, and £1.2 billion respectively in February.

The annual growth rate of M4ex increased to 4.5% in March, from 4.1% in February.

The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) increased to £20.8 billion in March, from -£2.8 billion in February (Chart 9). Within this, NIOFCs borrowed £8.2 billion following net repayments of £10.9 billion in February. Households and PNFCs borrowed £6.3 billion and £6.2 billion in March respectively, following net borrowing of £5.5 billion and £2.6 billion in February.

The annual growth rate of M4Lex increased to 6.0% in March, from 5.8% in February.

Queries

If you have any comments or queries about this release, please email DSD_MS@bankofengland.co.uk.

Next release date: 2 June 2026