Mortgage approvals fall to lowest level – BoE report

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals rose in November 2022, but mortgage approvals for house purchases fell to its lowest level since mid-2020, according to lending data released by the Bank of England (BoE) on Wednesday.

The central bank’s latest Money and Credit report showed that net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased from £3.6 billion to £4.4 billion in November.

Gross lending decreased from £27.7 billion in October to £25.7 billion in November, while gross repayments dropped from £25.8 billion to £21.6 billion.

Mortgage approvals for house purchases – an indicator for future borrowing, however, decreased to 46,100 in November from 57,900 in October, the lowest level since June 2020, when the number of approvals was 40,500.

Approvals for remortgaging, which only capture remortgaging with a different lender, fell to 32,500 in November from 51,300 in October, and were below the previous six-month average of 48,100.