The latest data from firms who have signed up to the Government’s Mortgage Charter.
Due to changes in data collection methodology, this publication has transitioned from monthly to quarterly reporting of Mortgage Charter uptake data. The previously published monthly data is now archived.
The Government’s Mortgage Charter, introduced in June 2023, contains commitments, over and above FCA requirements, made by mortgage lenders. There are 47 signatories, representing around 90% of the mortgage market.
These commitments include:
- Not to force a borrower to leave their home without their consent, unless in exceptional circumstances, in less than a year from their first missed payment.
- To allow customers to lock in a new deal up to 6 months ahead of the end of a fixed rate deal, and to request a better like-for-like deal up until the new one starts, if one is available.
- Without assessing affordability, to permit customers who are up to date with their payments to switch to interest-only payments for 6 months, or to extend their mortgage term with the option to revert to their original term within 6 months.
FCA rules to support Charter commitments
Switching to interest-only payments or reducing a term were possible under our rules, but only after an affordability assessment. We quickly introduced additional rules enabling firms to allow a customer to make reduced capital payments (including to zero and paying interest only) for up to 6 months, or reverse a term extension within 6 months of it taking effect, without undertaking an affordability assessment.
Key findings
- In Q1 2026, 499,223 mortgages locked into a new deal up to 6 months ahead of maturity; this compares to 361,216 mortgages in the previous quarter, Q4 2025.
- Between July 2023 and March 2026, the monthly payments on around 331,000 mortgages were reduced as people switched to temporarily paying interest-only or extended their mortgage term. This is around 3.7% of regulated mortgage contracts.
- In Q1 2026, around 20,000 mortgages saw a reduction in monthly payments due to a temporary switch to interest-only or a term extension; this is largely unchanged from the volume in Q4 2025.
- Between July 2023 and March 2026, 342 properties were repossessed within 12 months of missing the first payment.
What’s included in this data
We asked signatory firms for information on the uptake of these options. Given the pace at which the Charter was implemented, we requested firms provide this information to the best of their ability, which is a different standard to routine regulatory data collections.
- We request quarterly data from all Charter signatories.
- We ask for information about the support provided during each month (for example the ‘flow’ data rather than ‘stock’ data).
- As we ask firms to provide this information to the best of their ability, there may be inconsistencies in how firms respond, and it is not subject to the same quality assurance as regulatory returns. For example, some may give account-level data while others provide customer data.
- Some firms may be unable to differentiate between Charter-specific support and business-as-usual variations which they would have offered anyway. Especially for the locking-in of rate switches, which has been standard industry practice for some time.
- It is difficult to estimate the total number of mortgages that have taken up one or more Charter options. There is likely to be some overlap between customers who have locked in a new deal and those who have extended their term or switched to interest-only payments.
Latest data
Approximate figures (number of mortgages). The charts below show data under the Mortgage Charter (or business as usual, if unable to differentiate).
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Wider support
Charter options form only part of the support which lenders provide borrowers seeking to manage their monthly payments.
All borrowers can contact their lender and discuss their options. This support could, for example, include contract variations or appropriate forbearance measures.
Next steps
We will publish Mortgage Charter data quarterly while we continue to ask firms to report on Charter uptake.
The next publication will cover the period 1 April to 30 June 2026.
We will closely monitor the mortgage market, including through market and consumer level data and firm engagement. We will use data on uptake of the Government’s Mortgage Charter to understand how it has been used, and to inform our policy and supervisory approach.
