The Bank of England’s Lending to Individuals for February 2012 was released this week and reports that the total lending to individuals rose by £1.6 billion in February, compared to the previous six-month average increase of £1.3 billion. The twelve-month growth rate was unchanged at 1.0%.

Within this total lending that secured on dwellings rose by £1.2 billion, compared to the previous six-month average increase of £1.0 billion. The three-month annualised growth rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 1.2%, while the twelve-month growth rate was unchanged at 0.8%.

This places the total gross lending secured on dwellings at £12.2 billion, compared to the previous six-month average of £12.3 billion. Repayments in February were £11.5 billion, compared to the previous six-month average of £11.6 billion.

The number of loan approvals for house purchase was decreased to 48,986 and was lower than the previous six-month average of 53,777. The number of approvals for remortgaging also decreased to 27,940, and was lower than the previous six-month average of 32,735.