UK mortgage borrowing increased the most since 2016, data from the Bank of England showed on Monday.
According to BoE, mortgage borrowing strengthened in February with individuals borrowing an additional GBP 6.2 billion secured on their homes as the temporary stamp duty tax relief has been extended to the end of June.
The number of mortgage approvals declined to 87,669 in February from 97,350 in January. The expected level was 95,000.
Although approvals were down from a peak of 103,700 in November 2020, this was well above the six-month monthly average of 67,300.
Individuals continued making net repayments of consumer credit in February. Consumers repaid GBP 1.2 billion. The annual growth rate fell to -9.9 percent, a new series low since it began in 1994.
Overall, non-financial corporates repaid GBP 0.2 billion of bank loans in February. Borrowing by small and medium sized non-financial businesses was similar to recent months, as they drew down an extra GBP 0.4 billion in loans.
M4 money supply grew 0.8 percent on month, taking the annual growth to 13.6 percent in February.
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