UK mortgage borrowing continues to rise

Consumer credit also continues to show annual growth of over 6 per cent reflecting strong retail sales and in the case of personal loans and overdrafts favourable interest rates.

Borrowing by non-financial companies increased by £2.3 billion in July after a small fall in June.

Dr Rebecca Harding, BBA Chief Economist, said: “This month’s BBA High Street Banking statistics are the first set of borrowing figures gathered since the EU referendum. The data does not currently suggest borrowing patterns have been significantly affected by the Brexit vote, but it is still early days. Many borrowing decisions will also have been taken before the referendum.

“We are also clearly still a nation of shoppers and the Brexit vote has done nothing to change the fact that we use credit cards for short-term purchases. Strong retail sales figures appear closely associated with strong consumer credit growth.

“Businesses also appear to be borrowing as usual: the upward trend that characterised the first few months of this year is continuing. June’s data looks like a blip, probably caused by pre-Brexit nervousness. But it is too early to tell how the data over the next few months will reflect the result of the decision to leave the EU.”