MNI 5 Things: Demand For UK Unsecured Credit Slumps in July

By Jai Lakhani and Jamie Satchi

     LONDON (MNI) - Following are the key points from the July money and credit

data published Thursday by the Bank of England (BOE):

     - Unsecured borrowing, volatile on a month-on-month basis, plunged to a

four-month low of GBP0.817bn in July from GBP1.521bn in June. This was not far

off March's anaemic showing of GBP0.439bn and considerably below the three-year

average of GBP1.5bn. The decline was attributed to weak demand for credit as

well as for other loans and advances.

     - Credit card lending eased to just GBP0.2bn in July. Part of the reason

for this may be that quoted rates of credit cards were the highest since May

2001.

     - Mortgage approvals - a leading indicator of new mortgage lending -

snapped a two-month winning run in July, easing slightly to 64,768, down from

65,374 a month prior. However, this was roughly in line with the average

recorded over the past six months.

     - Quoted rates on 5yr 95% loan-to-value (LTV) fixed rate mortgages were the

lowest since the series began, while those on 2yr 60% LTV fixed rate mortgages

were the highest since January 2015. This suggests that more risk is being taken

by mortgage lenders, possibly in an attempt to lure subdued demand.

     - The number of approvals for remortgaging fell 5.5% in July, down to

45,000 - the lowest since May 2017.

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203-586-2226; email: jamie.satchithanantham@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3828; email: jai.lakhani@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; +44208-865-3829; email: Jason.Webb@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: MABDS$,M$B$$$,M$E$$$]