UK mortgage approvals enjoyed a steady increase in October as post-referendum growth continues
Mortgage approvals in the UK rose to their highest point since March 2016 as the market continues last month's growth. Approvals had fallen steadily from May until August this year.
According to the Bank of England, 67,518 mortgages were approved in October – up from the 63,594 approved in September. This adds up to £12bn of mortgage lending for house purchases in the month.
The rise outperformed analysts' expectations, which had been predicting approvals to rise to around 65,000 in the last month.
There were 64,662 mortgage approvals in June, the month of the referendum.
However, the figures were still below the levels seen at the same point last year, when there were 69,833 approvals.
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These figures broadly confirm the trend shown in the figures from the British Bankers Association (BBA), which grew to 40,851 in October, up from 38,690 the month before. The BBA data is not as comprehensive as the Bank of England.
The BBA’s chief economist Rebecca Harding had described the rise as only a “relatively modest increase” since the Bank of England’s post-referendum interest rate cut in August. The cut was designed to stimulate the economy by boosting lending.