British lenders approved fewer mortgages than expected in November and consumer lending increased at the weakest pace since mid-2022, according to Bank of England data that chimed with other indications of a slowing economy.
Mortgage approvals fell to 65,720 mortgages in November from 68,129 in October, the lowest reading since August.
A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to approvals of around 68,500.
The data also showed a smaller-than-expected net increase in consumer lending, which fell to 878 million pounds ($1.09 billion) in November from 995 million pounds in October – marking the smallest increase since June.
The annual growth rate of consumer credit cooled in November to 6.6 per cent from 7.3 per cent, the slowest pace since June 2022, the BoE data showed.
