Consumer debt 'up £1 billion in September'

Overall lending to individuals grew by £1 billion in September, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England - in line with the previous six-month average.

It was also the third consecutive month in which consumer lending had increased at this rate.

The lending figures can be broken down in to lending secured on dwellings and unsecured lending.

We secured £12.2 billion against our properties in September and repaid £11.7 billion. Of the secured debt, £7.2 billion was for new house purchases, £4.5 billion was for remortgaging, leaving £0.6 billion for 'other' secured lending - which includes equity release and secured personal loans.

There were 50,967 loan approvals for house purchases in September which was less than August but higher than the previous six month average of 48,460. Remortgaging approvals increased in September to 34,924, which was higher than the average for the previous six months (31,140).

Banks lent out £0.6 billion more in consumer credit in September than in August. Credit card lending was up by £0.2 billion. Other forms of consumer credit, including loans and overdrafts, were up by £0.5 billion on the previous month.