Money and Credit - September 2026

Overview

These monthly statistics on the amount of, and interest rates on, borrowing and deposits by households and businesses are used by the Bank’s policy committees to understand economic trends and developments in the UK banking system.

Key points:

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £3.9 billion in September, from £4.2 billion in August, below the previous 6-month average of £4.9 billion.

Net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased to 53,400 in September, below an average of around 58,800 over the previous 6-months. Approvals for remortgaging increased to 42,600 in September, from 34,000 in August.

Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals decreased to £1.9 billion in September, from £2.7 billion in August, slightly below the previous 6-month average of £2.1 billion. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards was £0.7 billion in September, down from £1.3 billion in August. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) decreased to £1.2 billion in September, from £1.4 billion in August.

Private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) borrowed, on net, £3.1 billion of finance in September, following net borrowing of £8.5 billion in August. Within total net finance raised, bank loans amounted to £10.6 billion of borrowing in September, following £6.4 billion net borrowing in August.

The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) was £3.9 billion in September, compared to £16.9 billion in August. This was driven by Households and PNFCs increasing their holdings of money, by £4.7 billion and £0.7 respectively. NIOFCs reduced their holdings of money by £1.6 billion. Households deposited £5.0 billion into ISAs, and £0.7 billion into interest-bearing sight deposit accounts. These increases were partially offset by withdrawals of £2.9 billion from non-interest-bearing deposit accounts and £0.2 billion from interest-bearing time deposits.

The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) increased to £17.0 billion in September, from £9.9 billion in August. September’s lending was driven by PNFCs, Households and NIOFCs borrowing £7.3 billion, £4.9 billion and £4.8 billion respectively, compared with £3.2 billion, £5.7 billion and £1.1 billion in August respectively.

References in the text point to the summary tables below.

For further statistics, please see our visual summaries, Effective Rates (ER) statistical release, Capital Issuance statistical release, and Bankstats tables.

Mortgage lending (M&C Tables D and E):

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £3.9 billion in September, from £4.2 billion in August, below the previous 6-month average of £4.9 billion. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending decreased to 3.4% in September, from 3.6% in August.

Secured gross lending increased slightly to £24.2 billion in September, up from £23.7 billion in August, still below the 6-month average of £26.3 billion. Repayments increased slightly in September to £21.4 billion, from £20.2 billion, slightly above the 6-month average of £21.3 billion.

Note: The difference between gross lending minus repayments and net lending figures is due to varying seasonal adjustment methods applied across these series (see Chart 1).

Chart 1: Secured lending inc. house purchase, remortgaging and other advances

Net mortgage approvals (that is, approvals net of cancellations) for house purchases, which is an indicator of future borrowing, decreased to 53,400 in September, from 54,800 in August. Approvals for remortgaging (which only capture remortgaging with a different lender) increased to 42,600 in September, from 34,000 in August.

Chart 2: Mortgage approvals

The ‘effective’ interest rate – the actual interest paid – on newly drawn mortgages increased to 4.63% in September, from 4.60% in August. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages was 4.03% in September, up from 4.00% in August.

Consumer credit (M&C Tables B and C):

In September, net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals decreased to £1.9 billion from £2.7 billion in August (Chart 3), slightly below the previous 6-month average of £2.1 billion. Within this, net borrowing through credit cards was £0.7 billion in September, down from £1.3 billion in August. Net borrowing through other forms of consumer credit (such as car dealership finance and personal loans) decreased to £1.2 billion, from £1.4 billion over the same period.

Chart 3: Consumer credit

The annual growth rate for all consumer credit increased slightly to 9.8% in September, from 9.7% in August. Over the same period, the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing decreased slightly to 13.1%, from 13.3% in August, and the annual growth rate for other forms of consumer credit increased slightly to 8.3%, from 8.1% in August (Chart 4).

Chart 4: Consumer credit growth

The effective interest rate on interest-charging overdrafts increased by 52 basis points, to 20.79% in September. The effective rate on new personal loans to individuals decreased to 9.85% in September from 9.96% in August. The effective rate on interest-charging credit cards increased slightly in September, to 21.71% from 21.55%.

Households’ deposits (M&C Table J):

Households’ deposits with banks and building societies increased by £4.7 billion in September, following net deposits of £4.9 billion in August. This was driven by households depositing an additional £5.0 billion into ISAs and £0.7 billion into interest-bearing sight deposit accounts. These inflows were partially offset by withdrawals of £2.9 billion from non-interest bearing accounts and £0.2 billion from interest-bearing time accounts (Chart 5).

Chart 5: Breakdown of households’ deposits (Household M4)

Seasonally adjusted net flow

The effective interest rate paid on individuals’ new time deposits with banks and building societies increased to 4.42% in September from 4.24% in August. The effective rates on the outstanding stock of time and sight deposits were 3.44% and 1.66% respectively, compared to 3.41% and 1.65% in August.

Businesses’ borrowing from banks (M&C Tables G-I):

In September, UK non-financial businesses (PNFCs and public corporations) borrowed, on net, £9.3 billion of loans from banks and building societies (including overdrafts), following £4.7 billion of net borrowing in August. Within this measure, large non-financial businesses borrowed £8.2 billion, following net borrowing of £3.7 billion in August. Small and medium-sized non-financial businesses (SMEs) borrowed, on net, £1.0 billion in September, unchanged from August.

The annual growth rate of borrowing by large businesses increased to 11.7% in September, from 9.2% in August. The annual growth rate of borrowing by SMEs increased to 5.3% from 4.7% over the same period (Chart 6).

Chart 6: Annual growth of lending to SMEs and large businesses

The effective interest rate on new loans from banks to UK PNFCs decreased by 10 basis points to 5.47% in September. The effective interest rate on new loans to SMEs decreased to 6.55% from 6.63% over the same period.

Net Finance Raised (M&C Table F):

PNFCs borrowed, on net, £3.1 billion of finance in September, following net borrowing of £8.5 billion in August. This was driven by £10.6 billion of net borrowing through loans from banks and building societies. This borrowing was partially offset by £2.7 billion of net bond redemptions, £2.0 billion of net equity buybacks and £0.2 billion of net commercial paper redemptions (Chart 7).

Chart 7: Net finance raised by PNFCs

Seasonally adjusted net flow

Businesses’ deposits:

In September, UK non-financial businesses deposited £8.9 billion with banks and building societies in all currencies, following net deposits of £7.3 billion in August. The effective rate on new time deposits from PNFCs increased by 5bps to 3.52% in September, with the effective rate on stock sight deposits decreasing by 4bps to 1.93%.

Aggregate money (M4ex) and lending (M4Lex) (M&C Tables J and K)

The net flow of sterling money (known as M4ex) was £3.9 billion in September, compared to £16.9 billion in August. This was driven by Households and PNFCs increasing their holdings of money by £4.7 billion and £0.7 respectively. NIOFCs reduced their holdings of money by £1.6 billion.

The annual growth rate of M4ex decreased to 4.0% in September, from 4.5% in August.

The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) increased to £17.0 billion in September, from £9.9 billion in August. September’s lending was driven by PNFCs, Households and NIOFCs borrowing £7.3 billion, £4.9 billion and £4.8 billion respectively, compared with £3.2 billion, £5.7 billion and £1.1 billion in August respectively.

The annual growth rate of M4Lex decreased to 6.2% in September, from 6.4% in August.

Queries

If you have any comments or queries about this release, please email DSD_MS@bankofengland.co.uk.

Next release date: 30 November 2026