Mortgage approvals fell to 54,900 in August, 16% below a year earlier
The Bank of England’s count of approved buyers has stepped down since April, and new mortgages now cost 4.60%.
open for offer lets you test the market before you list. The Bank of England counted 54,900 net mortgage approvals for house purchase in August 2026, down from 55,900 in July and 16% below August 2025. The average rate on newly drawn mortgages rose to 4.60% from 4.45%.
Are mortgage approvals falling?
Yes, on the Bank’s seasonally adjusted series. Net approvals for house purchase were 65,000 in April 2026 and 54,900 in August, about 10,100 fewer a month. The largest single step was May, to 56,300. Of the thirteen months from August 2025, the highest was September 2025 at 66,100 and the lowest was August 2026.
| Month | Net approvals for house purchase, seasonally adjusted |
|---|---|
| August 2025 | 65,400 |
| December 2025 | 61,400 |
| April 2026 | 65,000 |
| May 2026 | 56,300 |
| June 2026 | 58,100 |
| July 2026 | 55,900 |
| August 2026 | 54,900 |
Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. The Bank’s own release gives the two latest months, 54,900 and 55,900; the earlier months come from its published time series.
What does the approvals count measure?
An approval is a lender agreeing to lend on a purchase. The Bank counts them net of cancellations and describes the figure as an indicator of future borrowing. It covers buyers who borrow, so cash buyers do not appear in it. It is a count of lending permission given, not of homes sold and not of buyers looking.
Remortgage approvals, which the Bank says only capture remortgaging with a different lender, were 34,000 in August, from 34,600 in July.
What does it cost to borrow now?
The Bank reports the effective rate, the actual interest paid, rather than a lender’s headline rate. On newly drawn mortgages it was 4.60% in August. That is 0.15 percentage points above July.
| Effective interest rate | July 2026 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Newly drawn mortgages | 4.45% | 4.60% |
| Outstanding stock of mortgages | 3.97% | 4.00% |
The average existing mortgage costs 4.00%. The average new one costs 4.60%. If you are weighing a move, the gap between those two averages is 0.60 percentage points. Your own mortgage and the one you would take will differ from both averages.
How much money is still being borrowed to buy?
Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals rose to £4.4 billion in August from £4.1 billion in July, and remained below the previous six-month average of £5.2 billion. Gross secured lending, which includes house purchase, remortgaging and other advances, fell to £23.6 billion from £25.3 billion.
So lending has not stopped. It has run lower than the half-year before it, and the count of approved purchases has stepped down.
How big is one month’s move in context?
Across the thirteen months from August 2025 the series ran from 54,900 to 66,100, a spread of 11,200. The step from April to May 2026 was 8,700 of that, and the count has not returned to its April level since. June’s 58,100 is the highest of the four months after April.
August’s fall from July, 1,000, is small beside that spread. It matters less as a single reading than as the fourth month in a row below 59,000. Approvals are seasonally adjusted, so the usual summer and winter swings are already taken out.
The release does not say why approvals stepped down in May, and we do not guess. A count like this can move for reasons that have nothing to do with how many people want to buy: lenders’ criteria, the rate on offer, and the timing of buyers’ decisions all feed into it.
Which questions can a seller answer that a national count cannot?
A national series sits above every street in England. Four questions sit at the level of your home:
- What did homes like yours near you actually sell for, and when?
- How far did the final price sit from the asking price?
- How long did they take to sell?
- Is anyone interested in your home now, before you have advertised it?
The first three come from recorded sales. The fourth is the one a national count can never give you, and it is what the pre-market is for.
What does this mean for a homeowner who has not listed?
It means the number to look at is your own. A national approvals count says how many buyers have borrowing arranged. It does not say how many want a house like yours, on your street, at the price you have in mind.
open for offer is the pre-market, the market that exists before a property is ever advertised. A market estimate for your address gives you a figure from sales near you, and buyers can register interest in your home on its page. If you are weighing a sale in the next year, start from what your home is worth rather than from a national total.
This page does not forecast prices. The Bank’s release gives lending figures and rates and makes no claim about house prices, and neither do we.
Common questions
How many mortgage approvals were there in August 2026?
The Bank of England counted 54,900 net approvals for house purchase in August 2026, seasonally adjusted, down from 55,900 in July. Remortgage approvals with a different lender were 34,000, down from 34,600.
What is the average mortgage rate in the UK now?
The Bank of England’s effective rate on newly drawn mortgages was 4.60% in August 2026, up from 4.45% in July. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages was 4.00%. These are the actual interest paid, not lenders’ headline rates.
Do falling mortgage approvals mean house prices will fall?
Not on the Bank’s figures alone. It describes approvals as an indicator of future borrowing and its release makes no price forecast. For a figure that applies to your own home, use a market estimate for your address.