UK Mortgage Approvals Plummet to Lowest Level Since January 2024

The Bank of England released its latest data on mortgage approvals and consumer lending in the UK. According to the data, British lenders approved the fewest mortgages for house purchase since January 2024 in July, with a total of 56,053 mortgages approved.

This number is lower than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists, which had predicted a rise to 59,500. June's reading was revised up to 58,215 from the initial reported figure of 58,200.

The data also showed that net unsecured lending to consumers rose by £2.006 billion ($2.71 billion) on the month, exceeding economists' forecast of a £1.8 billion increase and marking the largest rise since November 2025.

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, commented on the data, stating that 'July's money and lending figures show that the near-term outlook for the housing market is weak, households may have funded some of their spending in July by lowering their saving rate and borrowing more, and overall monetary conditions are not conducive of a long period of high inflation.'

The central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.75% this month, with financial markets pricing in a quarter-point increase by the end of the year.