U.K. Mortgage Lending, Consumer Credit Pick Up in January

U.K. mortgage lending rose in January and consumers took on more debt than forecast to finance a New Year spending splurge.

Lenders approved 66,766 home loans, the most since October, the Bank of England said Friday. Consumer credit rose 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion), climbing above the 1 billion-pound mark for the first time in five months.