UK non-financial businesses borrowed a net £9.3bn from banks and building societies in September, double the £4.7bn in August, as household mortgage borrowing slowed, the Bank of England said on Thursday.
Net mortgage borrowing by individuals fell to £3.9bn from £4.2bn in August, below the previous six-month average of £4.9bn. The annual growth rate of net mortgage lending slipped to 3.4% from 3.6%.
The Bank’s money and credit figures are used by its policy committees to understand economic trends and the UK banking system. The next release is due on 30 November 2026.
Mortgage approvals fall to 53,400
Net approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, fell to 53,400 from 54,800 in August. That is below an average of about 58,800 over the previous six months.
Approvals for remortgaging, which capture only moves to a different lender, rose to 42,600 from 34,000.
Secured gross lending edged up to £24.2bn from £23.7bn, still under the six-month average of £26.3bn. Repayments rose to £21.4bn from £20.2bn.
The effective rate, the actual interest paid, on newly drawn mortgages rose to 4.63% from 4.60%. The rate on the outstanding stock was 4.03%, up from 4.00%.
Net consumer credit borrowing by individuals fell to £1.9bn from £2.7bn, slightly below the six-month average of £2.1bn.
Credit card net borrowing was £0.7bn, down from £1.3bn. Other forms of consumer credit, such as car dealership finance and personal loans, fell to £1.2bn from £1.4bn.
The annual growth rate of all consumer credit nudged up to 9.8% from 9.7%. Credit card growth eased to 13.1% from 13.3%, while growth in other consumer credit rose to 8.3% from 8.1%.
The effective rate on new personal loans fell to 9.85% from 9.96%. The rate on interest-charging credit cards rose to 21.71% from 21.55%.
Large firms borrow £8.2bn from banks
Large businesses borrowed £8.2bn from banks, against £3.7bn in August. Small and medium-sized firms borrowed £1.0bn, unchanged from the previous month.
Annual growth in borrowing by large businesses rose to 11.7% from 9.2%. For smaller firms it rose to 5.3% from 4.7%.
Private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) raised a net £3.1bn of finance in total, down from £8.5bn in August. Bank loans contributed £10.6bn.
That was partly offset by £2.7bn of net bond redemptions, £2.0bn of net equity buybacks and £0.2bn of net commercial paper redemptions, the Bank said in its highs and lows tables.
The effective rate on new bank loans to PNFCs fell by 10 basis points (bps) to 5.47%. The rate on new loans to smaller firms eased to 6.55% from 6.63%.
Broad money growth slows to 4.0%
The net flow of sterling money, known as M4ex, was £3.9bn, compared with £16.9bn in August. The annual growth rate fell to 4.0% from 4.5%.
Households added £4.7bn to their holdings of money, including £5.0bn into ISAs and £0.7bn into interest-bearing sight deposit accounts. Withdrawals of £2.9bn from non-interest-bearing accounts partly offset those inflows.
PNFCs increased their holdings by £0.7bn, while non-intermediate other financial corporations reduced theirs by £1.6bn.
Sterling net lending to private sector companies and households, M4Lex, rose to £17.0bn from £9.9bn. Annual growth in that measure eased to 6.2% from 6.4%.
The Bank’s August release had put M4ex at £16.2bn and PNFC net finance raised at £7.7bn. Both were revised up in the latest data, to £16.9bn and £8.5bn.
The effective rate on new time deposits from individuals rose to 4.42% from 4.24%, the Bank said in its effective rates data. For PNFCs the rate was 3.52%, up from 3.47%.
