UK Mortgage Approvals Plummet to Lowest Since January 2024

The Bank of England released its latest data on money and lending in the UK. According to this information, British lenders approved the fewest mortgages for house purchase since January 2024 in July. The number of mortgage approvals was 56,053, which is lower than all forecasts from a Reuters poll of economists. These experts had predicted that mortgage approvals would rise to 59,500.

The data also showed that net unsecured lending to consumers rose by £2.006 billion ($2.71 billion) on the month in July. This increase was higher than expected and marks the biggest rise since November 2025.

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, commented on this data. She stated that 'July's money and lending figures show that the near-term outlook for the housing market is weak.' Additionally, she mentioned that households may have funded some of their spending in July by lowering their saving rate and borrowing more.

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