The twelve-month growth rate was unchanged at 0.8%.
Within total lending, lending secured on dwellings rose by £1.3 billion, greater than the previous six-month average increase of £0.6 billion. The three-month annualised growth rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 0.8% while the twelve-month growth rate remained unchanged at 0.6%.
Gross lending secured on dwellings was £12.0 billion in October, greater than the previous six-month average of £11.5 billion. Repayments in October were £11.0 billion, slightly lower than the previous six-month average of £11.2bn.
The number of loan approvals for house purchase (52,743) increased in October, and was higher than the previous six-month average of 49,097.
The number of approvals for remortgaging (34,666) was broadly in line with August and September but was higher than the previous six-month average of 31,764.
The number of approvals for other purposes (20,662) was broadly in line with September and the previous six-month average of 20,528.
Consumer credit was broadly unchanged in October, compared to a previous six-month average increase of £0.5 billion.
The twelve-month growth rate decreased 0.3 percentage points to 2.1%. Within consumer credit, credit card lending increased by £0.1 billion in October, and other loans and advances were broadly unchanged
Suzanne Bradshaw, director of independent mortgage broker, Mortgage Arena, comments:
"Mortgage approvals for house purchases are up slightly but then there's nothing in these figures to suggest the market is anything other than flat.
"But let's not knock flat. Flat is not so bad given the febrile state of the economy. There is life in the market even if the levels of old aren't there. We're seeing some innovative products and increased activity among the lenders at higher LTVs.
"We are seeing increased enquiries from first time buyers, as falling house prices and rising LTVs bring home ownership within reach of more people.
"The remortgage side of the market is faring well given some of the attractive rates out there at the moment. People are fairly confident rates will stay on hold for some time yet but then they also know that some of the fixed rate products currently available may not be around for long.
"And they are right, as witnessed by the edging up in SVRs. The window is closing as lenders price in the increased risk drifting in from across the Channel."
