Britain's personal debt mountain hits record high as mortgage approvals soar Mortgage and credit card debts smash though 2008 record high Rise could signal growing confidence as the economy recovers Mortgage approvals rise to highest level in over five and-a-half years Britain's household debt mountain has soared to a record £1.43trillion, the Bank of England revealed today. Personal debt has risen steadily since the financial crash, and is now higher than the previous record seen five years ago. The increase is seen as a sign of increased consumer confidence, as the economic recovery gathers pace, but it could also mean more people relying on credit to make ends meet. The Bank of England said personal debt has risen again to £1.43trillion, higher than the previous record seen in 2008 The amount of money owed by individuals in October stood at £1,429,624,000,000, the Bank said. It is £29million higher than the previous high of £1,429,595,000,000 seen in September 2008, just before the financial crash hit. However the figures do not take account of inflation, and the bank stressed that debt as a percentage of household income is not at a record high. But new figures show that £1.27trillion is now owed in mortgages and £158million in consumer credit. The Bank of England also revealed that mortgage approvals to home buyers have increased to their highest level in over five and-a-half years. In October 67,701 mortgages worth £10.5billion were approved for buying a house, the highest total since February 2008 when nearly 69,000 were approved. The bank has now taken the first step in applying the brakes to the property market by announcing it is refocusing a lending scheme towards helping small businesses borrow. A mortgage price war broke out after Funding for Lending was launched in August last year and the number on the market has since surged by 40 per cent. The bank's new figures also indicate that as Christmas approaches, people are cautious about taking on more debt with a sharp fall in borrowing on personal loans and overdrafts compared with September. Demand from would-be home buyers is expected to pick up further in the coming months because of the Government's Help to Buy scheme which was extended in October to offer state-backed loans to people with 5 per cent deposits. The bank's figures show that 35,261 remortgaging deals worth £5.3 billion were approved in October, slightly above the six-month average of around 33,800. The Bank of England revealed how personal debt has reached a new high, beating levels last seen before the crash Matthew Pointon, a property economist at Capital Economics, said the mixed message from the Bank of England in trying to cool the property market, just as expectations are being raised by the new phase of Help to Buy, could have a dampening effect. 'There have been some tortuous attempts to explain how all these policies fit together, but the end result is a bit of a mess,' he said. That could in itself serve to confuse potential buyers, and that may hold them back from jumping into the housing market. Household finances are 'not strong enough' to support a countrywide house-price boom, Mr Pointon said.