Commentary on Mortgage lending statistics Q1 2022

The FCA and the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) both have responsibility for the regulation of mortgage lenders and administrators. We jointly publish the mortgage lending statistics every quarter.

Since the beginning of 2007, around 340 regulated mortgage lenders and administrators have been required to submit a Mortgage Lending and Administration Return (MLAR) each quarter, providing data on their mortgage lending activities.

Key findings

  • The outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans was £1,630.5 billion at the end of 2022 Q1, 4.4% higher than a year earlier (Table A).
  • The value of gross mortgage advances in 2022 Q1 was £76.9 billion, which was £6.7 billion greater than the previous quarter, but 7.5% lower than in 2021 Q1 (Table A and Chart 1).
  • The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2022 Q1 was 6.7% greater than the previous quarter and 6.6% greater than a year earlier, at £82.5 billion (Table A and Chart 1).
  • The share of gross advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 85.5% in 2022 Q1, 26.5 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago, and the highest seen since 2008 Q3. The increase was mostly driven by the 50 basis points (bp) increase in Bank Rate across the quarter, rather than any significant change in mortgage interest rates (Chart 2).
  • The share of mortgages advanced in 2022 Q1 with loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 90% was 3.9%, 2.8pp higher than a year earlier but a 0.2pp decrease compared to the previous quarter (Chart 3).
  • The share for house purchase for owner occupation was 50.7%, down 2.3pp on the previous quarter, and down 13.4pp from 2021 Q1. The share of gross advances for remortgages for owner occupation was 29.0%, an increase of 11.0pp since 2021 Q1, and an increase of 0.8pp since 2021 Q4 (Chart 5).
  • The value of outstanding balances with arrears decreased by 1.1% over the quarter and 11.3% over the year, to £13.3 billion in 2022 Q1, and now accounts for 0.82% of outstanding mortgage balances, the lowest since recording began in 2007 (Chart 6).
     

Download the data from the charts below - MLAR statistics: detailed tables (Excel)

Chart tips: hover over the data series to view the data values and filter the data categories by clicking on the legend. 

Table A: Residential loans to individuals flows and balances 

Regulated and non-regulated mortgages* - £ billions - Not seasonally adjusted

 

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

 

2022

Business flows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross advances

44.2

62.5

76.6

83.2

89.1

73.4

70.2

76.9

New commitments

34.4

78.9

87.7

77.4

86.1

78.9

77.3

82.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential loan amounts outstanding

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Regulated and Non-regulated

1,514.8

1,526.0

1,541.5

1,561.8

1,587.6

1,601.9

1,613.5

1,630.5

*This data covers regulated mortgage lending, and non-regulated mortgage lending by firms which undertake regulated mortgage lending or administration of regulated mortgages.

Chart

Data table

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The value of gross mortgage advances in 2022 Q1 was £76.9 billion, which was £6.7 billion greater than the previous quarter, but 7.5% lower than in 2021 Q1 (Table A and Chart 1).

The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2022 Q1 was 6.7% greater than the previous quarter and 6.6% greater than a year earlier, at £82.5 billion (Table A and Chart 1).

Chart

Data table

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  • The share of gross advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 85.5% in 2022 Q1, 26.5pp higher than a year ago, and the highest seen since 2008 Q3. The increase was mostly driven by the 50bp increase in Bank Rate across the quarter, rather than any significant change in mortgage interest rates (Chart 2).
  • The share of advances with interest rates between 2% and 3% above Bank Rate decreased over the quarter to 9.8% from 19.0%, while the share of advances with interest rates 3% or more above Bank Rate decreased by 5.0pp to 4.7% from 2021 Q4.

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The share of advances with LTV ratios exceeding 90% decreased on the quarter, by 0.2pp, to 3.9% in 2022 Q1. This was 2.8pp higher than a year earlier (Chart 3). Within this, the share of mortgages advanced with LTVs over 95% was 0.2%, broadly unchanged compared to the previous quarter.

The share of mortgages advanced in 2022 Q1 with LTV ratios exceeding 75% decreased by 1.2pp on the quarter to 35.5%. This is also 1.3pp lower than a year earlier, and the lowest seen since 2018 Q1.

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The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio decreased by 0.5pp on the quarter to 49.7% in 2022 Q1, but was 0.1pp higher than a year earlier (Chart 4). Borrowers with high LTI are defined here as:

  • Borrowers with single income who had a LTI ratio of 4 or above. These loans accounted for 11.8% of gross mortgage lending in 2022 Q1, broadly unchanged compared to the previous quarter.
  • Borrowers with a joint income who had a LTI of 3 or above. These loans accounted for 37.8% of gross mortgage lending in 2022 Q1, a 0.5pp decrease compared to the previous quarter.

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The share of gross mortgage advances for buy-to-let purposes (covering house purchase, remortgage and further advance) was 13.4% in 2022 Q1, an increase of 1.7pp from 2021 Q1 (Chart 5). The share of advances to owner occupiers was 86.6%.

Of the 86.6% of advances for owner occupiers, the share for remortgages was 29.0%, an increase of 11.0pp since 2021 Q1, and an increase of 0.8pp since 2021 Q4. The share for house purchase was 50.7%, down 2.3pp on the previous quarter and down 13.4pp from 2021 Q1. Further advances and other mortgages (including lifetime mortgages) accounted for 6.9% of gross advances in total.

Of the 50.7% of advances for house purchases by owner occupiers, lending to first-time buyers was 0.5pp lower than in 2021 Q1, at 21.4% of gross advances, and was 1.9pp lower than 2021 Q4. The share advanced to home movers decreased by 13.0pp on a year earlier, to 29.3%, and was 0.4pp lower than 2021 Q4.

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Data table

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The value of outstanding balances with arrears (defined as the borrower failing to make contractual payments equivalent to at least 1.5% of the outstanding mortgage balance or where the property is in possession) decreased by 1.1% on the quarter and 11.3% on a year earlier, to £13.3 billion, the lowest it has been since recording began in 2007 (Chart 6).

The proportion of total loan balances with arrears decreased on the quarter from 0.84% to 0.82%, also the lowest since recording began.

Copyright

The data on this page is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence.