Individuals borrowed a net £2.5 billion in consumer credit in August 2026, up from £2.1 billion in July and above the preceding six-month average of £1.9 billion, the Bank of England reported on 29 September. Credit-card borrowing accounted for £1.2 billion, compared with £0.9 billion in July; other consumer credit, including dealership finance and personal loans, reached £1.3 billion from £1.2 billion. These are monthly net flows, not the total outstanding balance owed by households.

Mortgage borrowing also increased: net borrowing of mortgage debt reached £4.4 billion, from £4.1 billion in July, but remained below the previous six-month average of £5.2 billion. Net approvals for house purchases fell to 54,900 from 55,900. The Bank treats approvals net of cancellations as an indicator of future borrowing, not completed home purchases or mortgages already drawn. Remortgage approvals fell to 34,000 from 34,600 and capture remortgaging with a different lender, rather than every renegotiation of an existing loan.

Interest-rate measures moved as well. The effective rate on newly drawn mortgages—the rate actually paid on new borrowing—rose to 4.60% from 4.45%. The effective rate on the outstanding mortgage stock was 4.00%, up from 3.97%. These are not the Bank Rate and do not mean that every borrower pays the same price: offered terms depend on loan and customer characteristics, while the outstanding-stock measure reflects mortgages taken out at different times.

Households’ deposits with banks and building societies increased by a net £4.7 billion in August, following a £3.8 billion inflow in July. A net flow records the difference between money entering and leaving during the month. It is not the total deposit balance or households’ complete wealth. The release also discusses several account types; this article uses the aggregate deposit flow. Moving funds between savings accounts is a different concept from an increase in the aggregate amount held by the household sector.

The Bank’s broad-money measure M4ex recorded a net sterling inflow of £16.2 billion in August after an outflow of £9.8 billion in July. Households, private non-financial corporations and non-intermediate other financial corporations increased money holdings by £4.7 billion, £0.4 billion and £11.1 billion respectively. Net lending to private-sector companies and households, measured by M4Lex, was £3.9 billion after a £0.1 billion net repayment in July. M4ex and M4Lex are aggregate banking-system flows; they are not household income or a direct measure of new spending.

For businesses, private non-financial corporations raised £7.7 billion of net finance in August, after close to no net finance in July. That aggregate is distinct from household consumer credit and sterling money holdings. A separate banking indicator covering UK non-financial businesses, including public corporations, recorded £4.1 billion of net borrowing from banks and building societies. Small and medium-sized businesses within that measure borrowed £0.9 billion net, unchanged from July. These figures concern different instrument and company groupings; they must not be added together to create a new financing total.

The release combines flows, approval counts, growth rates and effective rates. A net borrowing flow records new lending minus repayments over the month, while an outstanding balance is a stock at a point in time. Approval counts describe agreed applications net of cancellations and can precede drawdown. The Bank publishes these monthly statistics to inform policy committees about household and business borrowing, deposits and money. A rise in a flow does not by itself show why borrowers sought credit, whether the money financed consumption or refinancing, or whether repayment capacity improved.

The August figures therefore show a mixed picture: consumer-credit and mortgage net borrowing rose from July, purchase approvals eased, and mortgage rates on new lending increased. Deposit inflows and aggregate sterling money also strengthened, while company finance reported finance remained distinct from the narrower banking-loan indicator. The data cannot establish whether these shifts will persist or predict retail spending or house prices. Interpretation should keep the six-month reference average, seasonal adjustment used in the tables, definitions of each series and the distinction between a one-month flow and accumulated household or business debt in view.