UK Mortgage Borrowing Steady in December

Net mortgage borrowing by UK individuals remained unchanged at £4.6 billion in December 2025, slightly above market expectations of £4.5 billion. Gross lending fell by £0.5 billion to £23.0 billion, while gross repayments also declined by £0.6 billion to £18.8 billion. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending held steady at 3.4%. The effective interest rate on newly drawn mortgages edged down to 4.15% in December, from 4.20% in November. Meanwhile, the rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages rose slightly to 3.92%, up from 3.90% the previous month.

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by UK individuals increased to £4.5 billion in November 2025, following a decrease of £1.0 billion to £4.2 billion in October, in line with market expectations. In November, gross lending decreased by £0.6 billion to £23.7 billion, while gross repayments decreased by £3.1 billion to £19.4 billion. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending increased to 3.3% in November, from 3.2% in the previous month, the highest since January 2023 (3.4%).

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by UK individuals fell to £4.3 billion in October 2025, down from £5.2 billion in September and below market expectations of £4.5 billion. Gross lending edged slightly lower to £24.5 billion from £24.8 billion, while gross repayments rose by £1.5 billion to £22.1 billion. The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending held steady at 3.2% in October, the highest since January 2023. The ‘effective’ interest rate on newly drawn mortgages fell to 4.17% from 4.19% in September, marking its lowest level since January 2023 (3.88%) and continuing the downward trend observed since March 2025. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages remained unchanged for a third consecutive month at 3.89%.