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Bank of England mortgage and savings data - June 23

ended 31. July 2023

At 09:30 this morning, the Bank of England is publishing the June Money & Credit report, revealing the latest mortgage approvals and savings data. Ahead of this, a handful of quick Qs:

  • Based on your experience, how were mortgage approvals in June, and have they improved during July?
  • What are the main influencers on demand for mortgages at present and how important could August's base rate decision and inflation report be for approvals moving forward?
  • Are you finding people have more debt on plastic or loans when they come to remortgage, and what challenges is this causing with affordability and credit reports?
  • The last Money & Credit report showed that, in May, households withdrew £4.6 billion from banks and building societies, the highest level of household withdrawals on record. Have you found that people have been eating into their savings in recent months? Also, is it impacting deposit size and demand for offset mortgages?

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
Unsecured credit utilisation will continue to remain high while mortgage rates are as high as they are and the cost of living crisis continues. At least they will remain high until the lines of credit are taken away. However, August is set to be a pivotal month for mortgages and the cost of livinh more widely. We will soon discover if the Bank of England will imitate the Federal Reserve's actions and hike the base rate by 0.25%. On the 16th, the inflation data will lay the groundwork for those considering remortgaging in 2023. Should the inflation numbers be better than anticipated, the recent downward trend we've observed in mortgage market prices could potentially carry on. Considering the figures should also reflect a drop in energy prices, then the outlook may improve.
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Graham Cox
Director at Bridging Hub
Most economists predict the Bank of England will increase the base rate by 0.25% this week. However, I don't see it having a significant bearing on mortgage rates as they've already risen so much over the past couple of months. Debt is definitely becoming an issue with a lot of mortgage borrowers. With credit card balances rocketing simply to fund the cost of living, as well as car finance and unsecured loans, it's not uncommon for a couple to have £10,000 to £20,000 of debt between them, which can severely dent their maximum borrowing capacity.