UK mortgage approvals fall in October
UK mortgage approvals fell to their lowest level in October since March, according to figures released by the Bank of England on Friday.
Mortgage approvals declined to 64,602 from a revised 65,803 in September, below consensus expectations of 65,400.
However, net consumer credit rose to £1.33bn from £08bn the month before, beating expectations of £0.9bn.
Net mortgage borrowing rose by £0.4bn from September to £4.3bn and the annual growth rate of consumer credit was 6.1%, up from 5.9% in September.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "October’s drop in mortgage approvals looks like the type of stutter usually seen before general elections.
"We expect approvals to rebound in Q1, when political uncertainty should have declined and support from low mortgage rates should still be in place."