Net Lending to Individuals

Net Lending to Individuals is the monthly net flow of sterling lending to UK-resident individuals, after break and write-off adjustments. Its official name is Total lending to individuals excluding student loans, published by the Bank of England, the UK central bank. It covers mortgages secured on homes plus consumer credit for everyday spending, for the household sector only.

It excludes Student Loans Company loans, unincorporated businesses and non-profit bodies, and differs from M4 lending, which covers banks and building societies only. The total is a straight pound sum with no weights. It is not approvals, gross new lending or interest rates.

Each release covers 1 calendar month and appears about 4 weeks after month end at 09:30 London time. Dates shift with the calendar and holidays, and each release names the next date. A significant error can trigger a re-release outside the timetable, announced in advance where possible.

It shows adjusted flows, debt stocks and 1-month, 3-month and 12-month growth rates, with broad money, business lending, deposits, tables and charts. All data can be revised at the next release, rarely beyond 2 years. Large revisions are explained and flagged above a threshold, while small ones pass unflagged.

Total flow is the sum of mortgage and consumer credit flows, so the larger mortgage leg usually dominates.

• Secured lending on dwellings: captures sterling mortgages for house purchase, remortgage with a different lender and top-ups, reported with gross lending, repayments and approvals.
• Consumer credit: captures borrowing for everyday goods and services, excluding Student Loans Company loans.
• Credit card lending: captures sterling card borrowing, including charge cards where data cannot separate them.
• Other consumer credit: captures overdrafts, personal loans, car finance and hire purchase, including second-charge mortgages from non-bank lenders.
• Mortgage approvals for house purchase: counts firm offers to lend, net of cancellations, as a lead signal for future borrowing. It is not part of the flow sum.

The Bank published June 2021 data on July 29, 2021: net mortgage borrowing hit a record £17.9 billion. That beat £11.5 billion in March 2021 and the £5.4 billion average of the 12 months to May 2021. The rise reflected borrowing ahead of the lower stamp duty taper. Gross lending rose to £43.8 billion with repayments at £27.7 billion, while approvals fell to 81,300 from 86,900.

Consumer credit added only £0.3 billion, below the £1.2 billion average of the 24 months to February 2020, after net repayments from March 2020. The episode shows mortgage dominance, approvals leading with compressed timing, and consumer credit diverging.

1. Amounts outstanding: start with opening and closing debt stocks, published before break adjustments. Bank data come through Forms BE, IS, IC and IO; specialist mortgages through MM and consumer credit through MC. Non-bank consumer credit has come through that survey since April 2024.
2. Other changes in value: remove reclassification, coverage-change and write-off effects with an offsetting adjustment, using Form WO for write-offs.
3. Flows: compute flow as closing minus opening plus the adjustment, so F equals L(t) minus L(t-1) plus A(t). The total flow equals secured plus consumer flow. For example, secured stocks move from £1,600.0 billion to £1,605.0 billion with a £1.0 billion reclassification uplift, giving a £4.0 billion flow. Add £1.0 billion of consumer flow (cards £0.4 billion plus other £0.6 billion) for a £5.0 billion total.
4. Seasonal adjustment: adjust levels with X-13ARIMA-SEATS and derive flows from adjusted levels, not directly. Publish both adjusted and unadjusted data. Break effects are non-seasonal, so breaks are applied first and reversed.
5. Growth rates: divide flow by prior stock for the 1-month rate, then compound monthly rates for 3-month and 12-month rates. For example, a £5.0 billion flow on a £1,700 billion stock gives about 0.3%. Annualise the 3-month result for the annualised rate.