UK Mortgage Approvals Hit 32-Month Low as BoE's Taylor Resists a Rate Rise

Tuesday, 29 September 2026. British home buyers are pulling back as mortgage costs climb, one Bank of England policymaker is pushing back against a rate rise, and oil has slipped as Saudi exports recover. Here is what is going on for UK money.

UK mortgage approvals hit a 32-month low

Net mortgage approvals for house purchases fell to 54,918 in August from a downwardly revised 55,928 in July, the Bank of England said on Tuesday. It was the second monthly fall in a row and the lowest figure since December 2023; economists had expected no change (Bank of England, Bloomberg).

• Approvals were well below the previous six-month average of around 60,100.
• The effective interest rate on newly drawn mortgages rose to 4.60% from 4.45%, and the rate on outstanding mortgages edged up to 4.00% from 3.97%.
• Remortgaging approvals with a different lender dipped to 34,000 from 34,600.
• Consumer credit borrowing rose to £2.5 billion from £2.1 billion, with credit card borrowing growing 13.3% a year.

BoE's Taylor: case for a hike 'not compelling'

Monetary Policy Committee member Alan Taylor said on Tuesday that he does not yet see a strong case for raising rates, in a lecture to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Reuters).

• 'The case for further rate increases is not compelling to me unless energy prices remain high for an extended period and also generate clearer signals of a transmission into broader inflation persistence,' he said.
• Taylor was part of the 6-3 majority that kept Bank Rate at 3.75% earlier this month. The other three members voted for a rise to 4%.
• Deputy governors Sarah Breeden and Clare Lombardelli have recently signalled they are moving closer to backing increases.

Oil slips as Saudi exports recover

Oil fell on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia's Red Sea exports recovered from a drone attack on its East-West pipeline earlier this month (Reuters, CNBC).

• Brent was down $1.96, or 1.86%, at $103.32 a barrel at 1306 GMT, and WTI fell 2.11% to $90.65 (Reuters).
• Kpler said 12.5 million barrels were loaded onto nine tankers at Yanbu from Saturday to Monday (CNBC).
• Middle East crude exports reached 12.8 million barrels a day in September, the highest since February, according to preliminary Kpler data (Reuters).
• Brent is still heading for a monthly gain of about 14%, and European diesel futures have more than doubled this year.

Sources

• Bank of England - Money and Credit, August 2026
• Bloomberg - UK mortgage approvals hit 32-month low as loan costs bite
• Reuters - Bank of England's Taylor says case for rate hike 'not compelling'
• Reuters - Oil falls as investors focus on Middle East supply
• CNBC - Oil prices fall as crude exports recover at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports