Household Borrowing Monitor (Nov.)

November’s household borrowing figures showed that borrowing growth remains strong, despite the Brexit vote, and that the housing market continues to regain its momentum.  Admittedly, the small rise in mortgage approvals for new house purchase from 67,371 to 67,505 was weaker than the consensus expectation of an increase to 68,500. But it was the third successive rise and higher than the average over the past six months. Nonetheless, 2017 is likely to see a slowdown in borrowing growth.