In the BoE’s latest quarterly credit conditions survey, bank and building society lenders reported that demand for secured lending for house purchases was unchanged in the third quarter

UK lenders don’t expect demand for new mortgages to rise this year, according to a survey by the Bank of England (BoE).

The survey comes amid lower expectations that the central bank will cut interest rates again in 2025.

In the BoE’s latest quarterly credit conditions survey, published Thursday, bank and building society lenders reported that demand for secured lending for house purchases was unchanged in the third quarter. Lenders also expect demand for this type of borrowing to be unchanged in the fourth quarter.

However, lenders did report an increase in demand for secured lending for remortgaging in the third quarter. They expect demand for this type of borrowing to rise in the final three months of the year.

The findings come as the BoE is forecast to keep interest rates on hold for the rest of the year, as inflation remains sticky, coming in at 3.8% in August. The BoE opted to keep its bank rate at 4% at its September meeting, with its next decision due on the 6 November.

The central bank has kept interest rates higher in an effort to get inflation under control, though it is also trying to balance that with avoiding too much of a slowdown in the economy.

Data released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the UK economy grew by just 0.1% in August, though this was in line with expectations and marked a slight improvement over July, when the country’s GDP declined by 0.1%.

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said that “with inflation still high and rising, we doubt the soft GDP news will tempt the Bank of England to cut interest rates again this year”.

The BoE’s interest rate influences those set by lenders, which can mean stronger returns on savings accounts, but also higher rates of interest on borrowing products, such as mortgages.