Consumer credit falls

The twelve-month growth rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 1.8%. Within consumer credit, credit card lending was broadly unchanged in December, and other loans and advances fell by £0.4 billion, Bank of England data showed.

Total lending to individuals rose by £0.4 billion in December, less than the previous six-month average of £0.9 billion. The twelve-month growth rate was unchanged at 0.9%.

Mortgage lending rose by £0.7 billion, slightly higher than the previous six-month average of £0.6 billion.

The three-month annualised growth rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 0.9%, whilst the twelve-month growth rate also increased slightly to 0.8%.

Gross mortgage lending was £13.0 billion in December, higher than the previous six-month average of £11.9 billion. Repayments in December were £11.4 billion, in line with the previous six-month average.

The number of loan approvals for house purchase (52,939) was broadly unchanged in December, and was higher than the previous six-month average (51,192).

The number of approvals for remortgaging (32,422) also increased in December, and was broadly in line with the previous six-month average (32,858).

The number of approvals for other purposes (21,038) was little changed in December, and was also broadly in line with the previous six-month average (20,728).