Britain’s housing market slowed dramatically in November and people ramped up borrowing on credit cards, according to Bank of England data on Wednesday that underscored the effects of rising interest rates and the cost-of-living crisis.
Mortgage lender Halifax forecast last month that house prices will fall around 8 per cent this year, and BoE interest rates reached 3.5 per cent in December, their highest since 2008 and up from 0.1 per cent a year earlier. The BoE said lending to consumers rose in net terms by £1.5-billion in November – driven by a 1.2 billion jump in credit card borrowing, the largest such increase since March 2004. The figures are not adjusted for inflation.