Consumer borrowing in the UK decreased for the fifth month in the row, figures from the Bank of England have revealed although mortgage approvals have increased to their highest level since March 2008.
A total of 60,518 mortgages were approved in November, up from 57,718 on the previous month but consumer borrowing continued to struggle, with borrowing on unsecured loans once again seeing a fall.
Despite a slight increase in credit card borrowing, largely associated with the start of the festive shopping season, a slow take-up of unsecured loans and reluctance to make large purchases meant that people in the UK paid back £376m more than they had borrowed throughout November.
The continued recession has also affected the amount people are saving, with building society members taking out more money than they saved for the ninth month in a row in November.
There was a net withdrawal of £775m, figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) showed, a figure that was blamed on low interest rates.
"Many may prefer to use their money to pay down debts, finance spending or invest elsewhere," said Adrian Coles, director general of the BSA.
The number of people remortgaging remained relatively static in November compared with October, at 24,897, the Bank of England said.
This was still down on the average of the previous six months as people continue to stick with their lender's standard variable rate at a time of low interest rates.
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