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4 January 2011
Last updated at 05:14 ET
Approvals for home loans - notably for people remortgaging their properties - picked up slightly in November, Bank of England figures show.
The number of mortgages approved for house purchases stood at 48,019 in November, a marginal rise on the previous month.
Approvals for remortgaging were up by nearly 4,000 on the previous month to 34,262 in November.
Consumers' repayments of unsecured debts outstripped new borrowing.
The figures showed that £121m more was paid back on credit cards, overdrafts and personal loans than was taken out in new borrowing.
Lending The slight rise in mortgage approvals for house purchases still left the figure below the average of the previous six months - of 48,145.
This showed that mortgage lending remained muted at the end of 2010.
Last month, the British Bankers' Association said that home loan approvals for house purchases by the major UK banks had fallen to a 20-month low in November.
The latest Bank of England figures provide a more comprehensive picture across the industry.
The two sets of figures both showed that remortgaging had picked up as borrowers replaced maturing fixed-rate deals.
Some lenders have suggested this could also show that some borrowers were expecting interest rates to rise.
"The sharp increase in the number of remortgages shows that consumers are becoming far more wary of potential interest rate rises given the growing inflation threat. Increasingly, the belief is that Bank rate will rise this year and not next," said Brian Murphy, head of lending at mortgage broker, the Mortgage Advice Bureau.
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The number of mortgages approved for house purchases stood at 48,019 in November, a marginal rise on the previous month.
Approvals for remortgaging were up by nearly 4,000 on the previous month to 34,262 in November.
Consumers' repayments of unsecured debts outstripped new borrowing.
The figures showed that £121m more was paid back on credit cards, overdrafts and personal loans than was taken out in new borrowing.
Lending The slight rise in mortgage approvals for house purchases still left the figure below the average of the previous six months - of 48,145.
This showed that mortgage lending remained muted at the end of 2010.
Last month, the British Bankers' Association said that home loan approvals for house purchases by the major UK banks had fallen to a 20-month low in November.
The latest Bank of England figures provide a more comprehensive picture across the industry.
The two sets of figures both showed that remortgaging had picked up as borrowers replaced maturing fixed-rate deals.
Some lenders have suggested this could also show that some borrowers were expecting interest rates to rise.
"The sharp increase in the number of remortgages shows that consumers are becoming far more wary of potential interest rate rises given the growing inflation threat. Increasingly, the belief is that Bank rate will rise this year and not next," said Brian Murphy, head of lending at mortgage broker, the Mortgage Advice Bureau.
Online Business Consulting | Internet Business Consulting