LONDON (Reuters) - British banks approved the fewest mortgages for house purchase since September 2016 last month, though the total sum lent was the highest since March 2016, industry figures showed on Wednesday.
Banks approved 40,200 mortgages for house purchase in June, down from 40,287 in May but barely changed from June 2016, trade association UK Finance said.
"June saw consumer borrowing from high street banks... maintain its slower pace as rising inflation put pressure on household incomes. Housing activity remained relatively stable," said UK Finance executive Eric Leenders.
The data were previously produced by the British Bankers' Association, which joined the newly formed UK Finance lobby group at the start of July.
Net credit card lending rose by 276 million pounds in June after a 114 million pound increase in May. A year earlier, lending increased by 265 million pounds.
On Monday the Bank of England reiterated concerns about rapid growth in unsecured borrowing and warned that several years of solid economic growth could lead banks to lower their guard and relax lending standards excessively.
The UK Finance data cover most British banks, but do not include building societies, which account for a big chunk of mortgage lending.
The Bank of England will release more comprehensive data on July 31.
