Comment on BoE money & credit from Karl Wilkinson, CEO, Access FS

In response to the Bank of England Money and Credit data published this morning, Karl Wilkinson, CEO at Access Financial Services said:

“It’s encouraging to see individuals continuing the recent upward trend of repaying mortgage debt - it’s up by £300 million since last month. Equally encouraging is the continuing recent upward trend for net mortgage approvals for house purchases. They’ve consistently risen from 49,300 in November 2023 to 55,200 in January 2024.

“After the flurry of mortgage interest rate cuts we saw over the winter and a six basis point drop in December (the first drop since November 2021), it’s no surprise to see that the interest rates paid on newly drawn mortgages fell again in January – this time by nine points.

“After all this good news, however, it is a concern to see consumer credit borrowing rising by £600 million to £1.9 billion in January.

“We aren’t out of the woods yet. Borrowers still need to be cautious and request professional advice from mortgage brokers to make sure they get the right loan for them. At the same time, lenders need to maintain sensible lending policies to avert the danger of rises in repossessions.”

Published: 29 February 2024