Bank of England: Brits borrowed more in May

According to a Bank of England statistical release, total net-lending increased in May to £9.5 billion, higher than that of April 2007.

The report also showed that the number of loans approved for house purchase increased to 114,000 while those for remortgaging rose to 111,000 compared to April.

It was recently reported by Moneyextra that some consumers are consolidating debt by taking out a re-mortgage on their home in order to reduce their debt repayments on a monthly basis.

“It seems many people are opting to consolidate expensive credit card debt and overdrafts into their mortgage debt,” commented Robin Amlot, senior editor of Moneyextra.

Mr Amlot added that while this can reduce immediate monthly outgoings, borrowers are likely to pay more interest on a long-term basis.

MoneyExpert recently reported that average consolidated debt is now over £13,000.