The numbers are “broadly in line with the average over the previous six months”, though up on the £1.2bn recorded in July.

Within this figure, credit card lending increased by £0.4bn in August, while other loans and advances increased by £1.2bn, again in keeping with average figures over the last six months.

The total amount of outstanding consumer debt (excluding student loans), which includes credit cards, other loans and advances, now stands at £187.9bn, up from the £186.6bn recorded in July.

Mortgages

Today’s money and credit figures also revealed that mortgage lending increased by £2.9bn in August (3.2% growth from the previous year), compared with an average of £3.3bn over the previous six months.

Gross mortgage lending in August stood at £19.8bn, with repayments totalling £17.3bn.

However, mortgage loan approvals were slightly down – 60,058, compared with the average of 66,734 in the previous six months.

The number of approvals for remortgaging stood at 40,225, compared with the average of 41,878.

Andrew McPhillips, chief economist at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “The fact that mortgage lending is continuing to grow despite decreasing mortgage approvals shows that lending is being driven by growth in house prices rather than transactions. We expect the effects of uncertainty around the EU referendum to begin to feed through in the coming months, which may cause activity to slow as buyers and sellers postpone getting onto the property ladder until the future of the UK economy is clearer.”

He said to ensure the market grows more steadily in the long term, more homes must be built to bring supply in line with demand and make properties more affordable. Further, the lender has also called for a reform to Stamp Duty by making it a seller’s tax rather than a buyer’s to reduce costs for first-time buyers and those moving up the property ladder.