Mortgage lending drops to four year low

The total number of mortgages approved in December fell to 73,029 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the mortgage lenders trade body said. This was the lowest since March 2015, when 66,868 were approved.

However, gross mortgage lending across the residential market in December 2018 was £21.1bn, some 4.7 per cent higher than the same month the previous year.

And gross mortgage lending across the residential market during 2018 was £267.5bn, some 3.8 per cent higher than in 2017.

But the number of mortgages approved by the main high street banks in December 2018 was 2.4 per cent lower than the same month the previous year.

Approvals for home purchase were 5.3 per cent higher, remortgage approvals were 5.8 per cent lower and approvals for other secured borrowing were 18.9 per cent lower.

The £11.0bn of credit card spending in December 2018 was 8.8 per cent higher than the same month the previous year.

The outstanding level of credit card borrowing grew by 4.7 per cent in the twelve months to December.

Personal borrowing through loans and overdrafts grew by 3.4 per cent in the year to December.

Personal deposits in total grew by 0.6 per cent in the year to December 2018. Deposits held in instant access accounts were 2.4 per cent higher than last December.

Eric Leenders, managing director, Personal Finance at UK Finance, said: “Mortgage lending grew in December compared to the previous year, with borrowers defying seasonal trends and purchasing a property throughout the festive period.

“Growth in credit card spending continues to be largely offset by increased cardholder repayments, with almost half of cards not bearing any interest at all. This reflects the growing trend of consumers using credit cards as a preferred payment method rather than as a means of borrowing, in order to take advantage of additional protections and value-added benefits.”