Net consumer credit increased by £0.9 billion in July, new data by the Bank of England revealed on Friday.
Data from the Bank of England showed that, for the month of July, the additional amount borrowed by consumers to purchase goods and services was £0.9 billion.
This figure remains broadly in line with the £1.0 billion average over the past year, the Bank of England added.
However, the amount is below the £1.5 billion average from January 2016 to June 2018.
“Within the July figure, the extra amount borrowed for other loans and advances fell on the month to £0.6 billion, while net credit card borrowing remained stable,” the Bank of England said.
“The annual growth rate of consumer credit remained at 5.5% in July, markedly lower than its peak of 10.9% in November 2016. This slowing reflects the weaker monthly lending flows over most of the past year,” it added.
Additionally, the data shows that net mortgage borrowing by households increased in July to £4.6 billion. The Bank of England said, however, that though this is the strongest since March 2016, it reflects a fall in repayments instead of an increase in new lending.
The annual growth rate remained at 3.2%, which is close to the level seen since 2016.
Mortgage approvals for house purchase grew in July to 67,300 – the strongest since July 2017.
Earlier on Friday, Nationwide’s House Price Index revealed that annual house price growth in the UK has remained below 1% for the ninth month in a row, rising 0.6% in August year-on-year. The figure follows a 0.3% annual increase recorded just a month before in July.
