LONDON (dpa-AFX) - UK mortgage approvals rose to a 15-month high in April despite higher borrowing costs, data from the Bank of England showed Tuesday.
Mortgage approvals unexpectedly increased to 65,945 in April from 63,979 in the previous month. This was the highest since January 2025 and was above forecast of 62,000.
The 'effective' interest rate, which is the actual interest paid on newly drawn mortgages rose to 4.08 percent in April from 4.03 percent in March.
Mortgage lending fell to GBP 4.4 billion in April from GBP 6.8 billion in March. The annual growth in mortgage lending accelerated to 3.3 percent from 3.0 percent in March.
Data showed that consumer credit remained unchanged at GBP 1.9 billion. Annual growth in all consumer credit slowed to 8.8 percent in April.
Within this, net borrowing through credit cards rose to GBP 0.8 billion from GBP 0.7 billion, while borrowing through other forms of consumer credit fell to GBP 1.0 billion from GBP 1.2 billion.
Businesses borrowed GBP 5.5 billion in April compared to GBP 3.7 billion in March.
Data released by Nationwide Building Society showed that British house prices declined for the first time this year amid high uncertainty over the developments in the Middle East and its impact on inflation and market interest rates. House prices dropped 0.6 percent month-on-month in May, in contrast to the 0.4 percent rise in the prior month.
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