According to the Bank of England, there were 55,200 mortgage approvals in January compared to 51,500 in December.
The data indicated that the number of persons remortgaging stayed constant at 30,900, a figure that can indicate consumers who are having trouble making their monthly repayments.
It coincided with the Bank’s announcement that, in January, new mortgage interest rates actually paid dropped from 5.28% to 5.19%.Overall borrowing increased more than anticipated to £1.9 billion in January from £1.3 billion in December, according to the Bank’s money and credit figures.
However, Ashley Webb, the UK Economist at Capital Economics, noted that it probably represents the month-over-month increase in retail sales rather than a hint that consumers desire to spend more and accumulate debt.
