Buoyant housing market sees mortgage approvals top 100,000 in a month

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The number of home loans given the go-ahead by lenders reached its highest level since August 2007, the Bank of England said.

The boom contrasts with a darker picture for other parts of the economy, with the Bank of England data showing unsecured lending - such as credit card spending - again shrank at a record pace.

There was a net repayment of credit by consumers of £1.5bn in November leaving the outstanding level of such borrowing 6.7% lower than it was last year, marking the biggest annual drop since the data series began in 1994 and continuing a pattern seen earlier in the year.Overall since the start of March, households have repaid £17.3bn of consumer credit.

The consumer credit weakness in November came at a time when households had a reduced ability to spend due to the latest lockdown measures, said Ruth Gregory, UK economist at Capital Economics. "Stronger household balance sheets should mean that there is plenty of scope for household spending, and GDP, to rebound strongly once the restrictions are eventually lifted," she added.

Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club said on the other hand that the strength of the housing market would"prove unsustainable sooner rather than later" once the stamp duty holiday ends and with unemployment likely to rise.

 

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