India, March 31 -- UK mortgage approvals for house purchase decreased slightly in February, as changes in stamp duty from April 1 softened housing market activity, while consumer credit decreased from the last month, official data showed on Monday.
Mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased 600 to 65,500 in February, the Bank of England reported. This followed a decrease of 400 in January. Approvals were forecast to rise to 66,000.
The 'effective' interest rate, which is the actual interest paid on newly drawn mortgages, increased by 2 basis points to 4.53 percent in February.
Consumer credit declined to GBP 1.4 billion from GBP 1.7 billion in the previous month.
Net borrowing of mortgage debt fell by GBP 0.9 billion to GBP 3.3 bi...