According to the report from the Bank of England, individuals borrowed £5.3 billion of mortgage debt on net in August, following a net repayment in July of £1.8 billion. Mortgage approvals for house purchase ticked down further to 74,500 in August, from 75,100 in July. Economists had expected a decrease to 73,000.

Consumers borrowed an additional £0.4 billion in consumer credit, on net. The effective rate on new personal loans remained below the January 2020 level at 5.87%, but was the highest since March 2020.

Households’ net flow in to deposit accounts increased in August, to £9.1 billion. Deposit interest rates fell slightly further, to new historically low levels.

Large businesses repaid £2.1 billion in loans from banks in August, whilst small and medium sized businesses repaid £1.0 billion. Private non-financial companies redeemed £1.1 billion in net finance from capital markets in August, compared to a monthly average net issuance of £2.8 billion since March 2020.