LONDON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- British gross mortgage lending across the residential market in 2018 reached 267.5 billion pounds (350.48 billion U.S. dollars), about 3.8 percent higher than in 2017, according to a survey published Friday by UK Finance.
In December 2018, the residential gross mortgage lending was 21.1 billion pounds (27.65 billion dollars), some 4.7 percent higher than the same period a year earlier.
Survey showed that credit card spending in December 2018 hit 11 billion pounds (14.41 billion dollars), up 8.8 percent year on year. The outstanding level of credit card borrowing increased by 4.7 percent in the 12 months to December.
Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance, said "mortgage lending grew in December compared to the previous year, with borrowers defying seasonal trends and purchasing a property throughout the festive period."
Speaking of credit card spending, Leenders said that "growth in credit card spending continues to be largely offset by increased cardholder repayments, with almost half of cards not bearing any interest at all."
"This reflects the growing trend of consumers using credit cards as a preferred payment method rather than as a means of borrowing, in order to take advantage of additional protections and value-added benefits," he added.
