Fewer mortgages approved last month

The number of mortgage approvals being made to homebuyers fell back in August from an 18-month high the previous month, new figures show.

The Bank of England says 65,545 mortgage approvals were made for house purchase in August – down from 67,011 in July.

The Bank's Money and Credit report said July had seen the highest monthly total for house purchase mortgage approvals since the start of 2018, but August's figure was the lowest since March this year.

Meanwhile, the annual growth rate in consumer credit, which includes borrowing using credit cards, personal loans and overdrafts, slowed in August to 5.4% - the weakest reading since early 2014.

The report said: "This remains considerably lower than its peak of 10.9% in November 2016."

Howard Archer, chief economic adviser at EY Item Club said: "It is possible that housing market activity may have got a recent modest lift from house-buyers looking to get their move sorted out before Brexit is due to occur on October 31, given the major uncertainties as to what exactly will happen then."

He continued: "However, the fact that mortgage approvals fell back to a fivemonth low in August suggests that the upside for housing market activity currently remains limited amid major uncertainties."

Andrew Montlake, managing director of mortgage broker Coreco, said he expected to see mortgage approval numbers become more robust in the coming months "as mortgage inquiries for home purchase really picked up in September".