Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals across the UK climbed by £1bn in December to £3.6bn, new Bank of England (BoE) figures have shown.

This followed a decrease in net borrowing of £900m reported by the central bank in November.

The BoE also reported an increase in net mortgage approvals for house purchases, which climbed by 500 to 66,500 in December, following a fall of 2,300 in November. Approvals for remortgaging, which only capture remortgages with a different lender, decreased by 700 to 30,500 in December, a second consecutive monthly fall.

Gross lending rose to £21.3bn in December, from £20.8bn in November, while gross repayments increased to £18.5bn, up from £18.1bn.

“Prospective homeowners defied the usual winter slowdown in December, with the latest statistics indicating a surge in activity,” head of mortgages at Moneybox, Felicity Holloway, commented.

“This increase in mortgage approvals is likely a direct response to the stamp duty changes coming in April, which are spurring some aspiring homeowners to reassess their homebuying timelines to avoid additional costs.”

CEO of specialist lender Octane Capital, Jonathan Samuels, added that any predictions of a “seasonal slump” in mortgage market activity had been “dispelled” by the figures.

“This heightened activity was no doubt driven, in part, by buyers keen to make their move ahead of the impending stamp duty deadline this April,” Samuels said.

“However, mortgage market health hasn’t been driven by the prospect of a stamp duty saving alone and, in fact, we saw some 31% more mortgage approvals complete over the course of last year when compared to 2023.

“Whilst mortgage rates haven’t reduced as much as the nation’s buyers may have liked they remain largely undeterred and, with the prospect that they will at least start to fall in 2025, we expect another busy year for the mortgage sector.”

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