CONSUMERS' appetite for debt eased during July amid further signs that the housing market was slowing down, figures have shown.

People increased their borrowings by £10.41bn during the month, the weakest figure since December last year and £1.1bn below the previous month's total.

The slowdown was driven by a fall in mortgage lending, with a total of £25.41bn advanced in the month, nearly £450m less than in June, the Bank of England said.

After redemptions and repayments were taken into account, outstanding mortgage debt rose by £8.65bn, the lowest figure for a year and well down on June's total of £9.34bn.

Only 97,000 loans were approved for people buying a new house, compared with an average of 119,000 during the previous three months.

The total value of all loans approved, including those for remortgaging, also slipped to £23.92bn, down from £25.54bn the previous month.

Philip Shaw, an economist at Investec, said: "The figures are a strong pointer that the UK housing market is slowing down. What is not clear is if this is a one-off number or the start of a trend.

"Taken on their own, both the figures for mortgage lending and commitments are very soft, suggesting housing market activity has been dented by rate rises in early spring and summer."

The figures come a month after the Bank of England said consumer debt had risen above the £1 trillion mark for the first time during June, sparking fears that people had taken on unmanageable levels of borrowing.