UK consumer borrowing bounces back in April, shows Bank of England data

It was the biggest monthly increase since November 2016 and higher than City of London predictions

The annual rate of consumer credit growth picked up to 8.7 per cent, from 8.5 per cent previously (PA)

UK consumer borrowing picked up again in April, following the slump in March due to snow storms, according to the latest data from the Bank of England.

The bank reported on Thursday that consumer credit expanded by £1.83bn, up sharply from the £425m figure in March, when the Beast from the East deterred shoppers.

This was the biggest monthly increase since November 2016 and was also higher than the £1.3bn estimate from City of London analysts.

The annual rate of consumer credit growth picked up to 8.7 per cent, from 8.5 per cent previously, although this remains down on the 2016 peak of 10.9 per cent.

The bank voiced concerns last year about the rapid growth of household borrowing, particularly on credit cards.

But the latest data may be taken by Threadneedle Street as an indication that household spending is proving relatively resilient, despite the slump in GDP growth estimated by the Office for National Statistics in the first quarter.

“The rebound in unsecured lending in April, following the smallest increase since November 2012 in March, should reassure the [Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee] that a downturn in consumers’ spending isn’t underway,” said Samuel Tombs of Pantheon investment trust.

The bank believes that growth figure has been artificially suppressed by the bad weather in the quarter and that growth will bounce back to 0.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2018, helped by consumer spending.

Biggest rise since 2016

However, new mortgage approvals for home buying in April came in slightly below analysts’ expectations at 62,445 in the month, according to the bank.

This follows Nationwide’s estimate on Thursday that average house prices declined by 0.2 per cent in April, taking the annual rate down to 2.4 per cent, which is consistent with other indexes showing a slowdown in the UK housing market.