According to the report from Bank of England, net mortgage borrowing was £6.2 billion in February, the strongest since March 2016. Mortgage approvals for house purchase were 87,700 in February: while higher than in February 2020, they have fallen from a peak of 103,700 in November 2020. Economists had expected a decrease to 95,000.

Individuals continued making net repayments of consumer credit in February (£1.2 billion). The effective rate on new personal loans remained low at 5.16%, compared to 7.03% in January 2020.

Private non-financial companies borrowed £0.7 billion from capital markets in February, compared to a monthly average of £4.5 billion since March 2020. Net bank borrowing by small and medium sized businesses was £0.4 billion in February, whilst large businesses made net repayments of £0.3 billion.

Households continued depositing significant amounts, with an additional £17.1 billion placed in February. Deposit interest rates remained at historically low levels.