LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) – The number of mortgages approved by British lenders for house purchase unexpectedly fell in January to their lowest in two years, according to data from the Bank of England on Monday that also showed consumer credit grew at a faster pace.
Mortgage approvals fell to 59,999 in January from 61,007 in December, the lowest since January 2024, and confounding the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a rise to 62,000.
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The value of mortgage lending, which lags behind approvals, rose by the smallest amount since May 2025 – up 4.076 billion pounds ($5.5 billion) in net terms January following a rise of nearly 4.5 billion pounds in December.
But separate figures from mortgage lender Nationwide, published on Monday, showed house prices rose more than expected last month after a blip at the end of 2025 linked to uncertainty over finance minister Rachel Reeves’ budget.
The BoE data showed net consumer borrowing rose by 1.8 billion pounds in January, above the 1.7 billion-pound forecast in the Reuters poll of economists.
UK housing market slowed noticeably in January, Bank of England data shows
