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Mortgage approvals edge down in November

ended 05. January 2026

Net mortgage approvals for house purchase, which is an indicator of future borrowing, fell by 500 to 64,500 in November. By contrast, approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) rose by 3,200 to 36,600 in November.

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased to £4.5 billion in November, following a decrease of £1.0 billion to £4.2 billion in October. In November, gross lending decreased by £0.6 billion to £23.7 billion, while gross repayments decreased by £3.1 billion to £19.4 billion. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending increased to 3.3% in November, from 3.2% in the previous month, the highest since January 2023 (3.4%).

Meanwhile, net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals increased to £2.1 billion in November from £1.7 billion in October. Net borrowing through credit cards was £1.0 billion in November, up from £0.7 billion in October. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) slightly increased in November, to £1.1 billion from £1.0 billion.

The annual growth rate for all consumer credit rose to 8.1% in November, from 7.5% in the previous month. Over the same period, the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing increased to 12.1% from 10.9%, the highest since January 2024 (12.5%), while the annual growth rate for other forms of consumer credit increased to 6.3% from 6.0%, the highest since September 2024 (6.6%).

Any thoughts on this data and whether you're expecting things to pick up sharply in January, send them across asap as we are writing this story NOW.

6 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Andrew Montlake
CEO at Coreco
That was then and this is now. Many people sat on their hands ahead of the Budget and, following the rate cut delivered by the Bank of England in December, we're anticipating a lot of pent-up demand to feed through in January and beyond. It could be a busy few weeks as lenders scrap it out to pull in as much business as possible after a relatively quiet Autumn period. A lot of brokers are bracing for rate cut announcements this week and throughout January.
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Katy Eatenton
Mortgage & Protection Specialist at Eatenton Finance
As reflected in the mortgage approvals data dipping, it was a sluggish end to 2025. However, we believe 2026 will start with a bang as lenders come out fighting for business and cutting rates to achieve it.
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Rohit Kohli
Director at The Mortgage Stop
This isn't surprising as many people had frozen their plans prior to the Budget and although interest was there, the fear created by the speculation and rumours meant would-be buyers took a wait-and-see approach. We had a busy December and we expect a busy January as lenders slash rates following the Christmas gift from the Bank of England with the rate cut.
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Ranald Mitchell
Director at bad credit mortgage specialists Charwin Mortgages
Credit cards are the hidden handbrake on mortgage affordability. When consumer credit growth is running at 8.1% and credit card borrowing is up at 12.1%, those repayments go straight into lenders’ affordability checks and can shave thousands off what people can borrow, even if mortgage rates are easing. The big question is whether this is confidence or dependency. Some households are clearly spending again, but the pace of credit card growth suggests plenty are still using borrowing to bridge the cost-of-living gap. Mortgage demand itself looks steady, with purchase approvals holding at 64,500 and remortgage approvals rising, but unsecured debt is increasingly the factor that decides who can move and who cannot.
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Elliott Culley
Director at Switch Mortgage Finance
The reduction in mortgage approvals for house purchases comes as no surprise as there has been fewer first-time buyers in the market due to recent changes to the market such as stamp duty and worries surrounding the Budget.
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Omer Mehmet
Managing Director at Trinity Finance
Budget uncertainty almost certainly contributed to the drop in mortgage approvals for house purchase in November. People put house moves on hold. But following last month's base rate cut, we're expecting lenders to start actively competing for new business in January to make up for a quiet fourth quarter. The first quarter of 2026 could be the polar opposite of the last quarter of 2025, which was fairly subdued.