December 2011 figures for the main high street banks1
25/01/2012

Annual growth of 1.5% in the banks’ net mortgage lending continues to outstrip annual growth of 0.6% across the whole lending market in November.

BBA statistics director, David Dooks said:

"December’s £9bn of new mortgages was the strongest month of last year, being 12% higher than in December 2010. However, at the same time, the household sector generally is focusing on debt repayment amid inflated household expenses and a continuing air of uncertainty, so we see a reluctance to let net borrowing rise, with people preferring to use their bank account cash for expenditure. Business prospects are even more attuned to the state of the economy in the UK and in overseas trading markets, with borrowing intentions for growth or investment plans generally staying on the back-burner.”

Please find the full release and excel tables via the links below.

Notes to Editors

1. The main high street banking groups (MBBG) account for some two-thirds of all UK mortgage lending outstanding, provide around half of all consumer credit and, within that, some 60% of all new card credit based on the Bank of England’s ‘lending to individuals’ data. They include the six largest UK retail lending groups: Santander UK (including Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley deposits), Barclays, HSBC Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Northern Rock and Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

2. Following a change in statistical reporting in January 2010, securitised loan assets held within special purpose vehicles became included in their parent banks’ reported lending. The impact of this change was adjusted out of earlier flows.

3. The BBA is the leading UK banking and financial services trade association, representing members from 50 countries on domestic and international issues. Members provide the full range of banking and financial services, operating some 150 million accounts in the UK and making up the world’s largest international banking centre.

4. A note explaining lending terms is available from the BBA website at http://www.bba.org.uk/statistics/article/lending-terminology.

5. The introduction of the revised Standard Industrial Classification (SIC2007) in national statistics was reflected in the banks’ statistical reporting at end-January 2011 and impacts on some of the industry-level data covered by this release, where counterparties have been re-classified between sectors. Where possible, estimates of underlying movements have been made to continue consistent time-series trends.