Data from the Bank of England showed cumulative net lending from all FLS-funded lenders over the 18-month period was £10.3bn.
This has fed through to significant improvements in household and corporate credit conditions, said the Bank of England, boosting net lending to the real economy.
To 31 January 2014, Barclays drew down £12,000m, Lloyds borrowed £10,150m and Nationwide is listed as borrowing £8,510m.
Credit conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have improved, but changes to the terms of the FLS Extension announced on 28 November refocused the incentives in the Scheme towards business lending in 2014.
British Banker’s Association figures showed £7.1bn of new borrowing facilities were approved to Small to Medium-sized Enterprises in Q4, 26% more than the same quarter of last year.
In the next phase of the scheme, 34 participants have signed up to the FLS Extension, set to last from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014.
FLS participants can earn additional allowances for positive net lending to businesses during the period, said the Bank. Lending to smaller businesses in particular will continue to be encouraged by allowing banks to draw £5 in the Scheme for every £1 of net lending to SMEs.
The fee for all drawings from the FLS Extension has been set at 0.25%, which is the lowest of the previous fee scale.
Paul Fisher, executive director for markets at the Bank of England, said: “The UK recovery has gained momentum, with easier credit conditions playing an important role.”
Howard Sears, founder of the small business investment firm, Astuta, said: “The Bank realised very late that the FLS was doing a great job of sparking a consumer credit boom but precious little to help Britain’s true wealth-generators – the SMEs.
“Despite the re-tuning of the scheme in November, loans to small business still lag well behind household lending. Mortgage and personal lending have surged to pre-crash levels, but the credit pipeline for small businesses is only slowly unblocking.
“The direction of travel is right, but there is a long way to go. Total loans to business rose by £500m in January, compared to an average monthly fall of £6.4bn over the preceding two quarters.”
