LONDON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The number of mortgages for home purchase approved by the main high street banks across Britain in May 2019 rose strongly, hitting a three year high, according to figures released Wednesday by UK Finance, a British association for banking and financial services sector.
Data showed the number of home purchase mortgage approvals by the main high street banks in May was 9.1 percent higher than in the same period in 2018, hitting the highest point since June 2016.
Meanwhile, gross mortgage lending across the residential market in May was 21.9 billion pounds (about 27.8 billion US dollars), about 0.4 percent lower compared with the same period one year earlier.
Regarding the credit card spending in May, it stood at 11.3 billion pounds, 5.6 percent higher than the same month in 2018.
In addition, personal borrowing through loans in May was 9.3 percent higher on the same month in 2018. (1 pound = 1.27 US dollars)