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 £1,655.5 billion at the end of 2023 Q2, 0.4% higher than a year earlier, but the largest decrease on the previous quarter since reporting began in 2007 (Table A).
- The value of gross mortgage advances in 2023 Q2 was £52.4 billion, which was £6.3 billion lower than the previous quarter, and 32.8% lower than in 2022 Q2. This was the lowest observed since 2020 Q2 (Table A and Chart 1).
- The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2023 Q2 was 26.2% greater than the previous quarter but 26.6% less than a year earlier, at £61.7 billion. This was the first increase and highest value observed since 2022 Q3 (Table A and Chart 1).
- The share of gross mortgage advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 96.1% in 2023 Q2. This was 4.8 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago and the highest seen since 2007 Q3 (Chart 2). See the Bank of England’s Effective interest rates data.
- The share of gross mortgage advances in 2023 Q2 with loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 90% was 4.4%, 0.1pp lower than a year earlier but a 0.4pp increase compared to the previous quarter (Chart 3).
- The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio increased by 1.6pp on the quarter to 45.3% in 2023 Q2, but was 5.2pp lower than a year earlier (Chart 4).
- The share for house purchase for owner occupation was 54.0%, up 3.9pp on the previous quarter, and up 1.6pp from 2022 Q2. The share of gross advances for remortgages for owner occupation was 32.0%, an increase of 5.0pp since 2022 Q2, but a decrease of 2.7pp since 2023 Q1. The share for buy-to-let purposes was 8.1%, the lowest observed since 2010 Q4 (Chart 5).
- The value of outstanding balances with arrears increased by 13.0% over the quarter and 28.8% over the year, to £16.9 billion in 2023 Q2, and now accounts for 1.02% of outstanding mortgage balances. New arrears cases equated to 16.0% of the total outstanding balances with arrears in 2023 Q2, which was little changed compared to the previous quarter. (Chart 6).
Download the data from the charts below - MLAR statistics: detailed tables (Excel)
Table A: Residential loans to individuals flows and balances
Regulated and non-regulated mortgages* - £ billions - Not seasonally adjusted
|
|
Q3 |
Q4 |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Q1 |
Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2021 |
|
2022 |
|
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Business flows |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gross advances |
73.4 |
70.2 |
76.9 |
78.0 |
85.9 |
81.6 |
58.8 |
52.4 |
|
New commitments |
78.9 |
77.3 |
82.5 |
84.0 |
87.8 |
58.3 |
48.9 |
61.7 |
|
Residential loan amounts outstanding |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Regulated and Non-regulated |
1,601.9 |
1,613.5 |
1,630.8 |
1,648.8 |
1,667.1 |
1,675.8 |
1,675.4 |
1,655.5 |
*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
The value of gross mortgage advances in 2023 Q2 was £52.4 billion, which was £6.3 billion lower than the previous quarter, and 32.8% lower than in 2022 Q2. This was the lowest observed since 2020 Q2 (Table A and Chart 1).
The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2023 Q2 was 26.2% greater than the previous quarter but 26.6% less than a year earlier, at £61.7 billion. This was the first increase and highest value observed since 2022 Q3 (Table A and Chart 1).
Chart
Data table
The share of gross mortgage advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 96.1% in 2023 Q2, 2.3pp higher than last quarter. This was 4.8pp higher than a year earlier and the highest seen since 2007 Q3 (Chart 2).
The share of advances with interest rates between 2% and 3% above Bank Rate decreased over the quarter to 1.7% from 3.4%, while the share of advances with interest rates 3% or more above Bank Rate decreased by 0.6pp to 2.2% from 2023 Q1.
Chart
Data table
The share of advances with LTV ratios exceeding 90% increased on the quarter, by 0.4pp, to 4.4% in 2023 Q2. This was 0.1pp lower 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 2023 Q2 with LTV ratios exceeding 75% increased by 4.0pp on the quarter to 36.5%. This is 1.7pp lower than a year earlier.
Chart
Data table
The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio increased by 1.6pp on the quarter to 45.3% in 2023 Q2 but was 5.2pp lower 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 8.1% of gross mortgage lending in 2023 Q2, a 1.1pp decrease compared to the previous quarter and the lowest observed since 2009 Q1.
- Borrowers with a joint income who had a LTI of 3 or above. These loans accounted for 37.2% of gross mortgage lending in 2023 Q2, a 2.7pp increase compared to the previous quarter.
Chart
Data table
The share of gross mortgage advances for buy-to-let purposes (covering house purchase, remortgage and further advance) was 8.1% in 2023 Q2, a fall of 1.7pp on the previous quarter and a fall of 5.5pp from 2022 Q2. This was the lowest observed since 2010 Q4 (Chart 5). The share of advances to owner occupiers was 91.9%.
Of the 91.9% of advances for owner occupiers, the share for remortgages was 32.0%, an increase of 5.0pp since 2022 Q2, but a decrease of 2.7pp since 2023 Q1. The share for house purchase was 54.0%, up 3.9pp on the previous quarter and up 1.6pp from 2022 Q2. Further advances and other mortgages (including lifetime mortgages) accounted for 5.8% of gross advances in total.
Of the 54.0% of advances for house purchases by owner occupiers, lending to first-time buyers was 2.2pp higher than in 2022 Q2, at 24.6% of gross advances, and was 1.9pp higher than 2023 Q1. The share advanced to home movers decreased by 0.6pp on a year earlier, to 29.4%, but was 2.0pp higher than 2023 Q1.
Chart
Data table
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) increased by 13.0% on the quarter and 28.8% on a year earlier, to £16.9 billion. This was the highest seen since 2016 Q3 (Chart 6).
The proportion of total loan balances with arrears increased on the quarter from 0.89% to 1.02%, the highest since 2018 Q1.
New arrears cases equated to 16.0% of the total outstanding balances with arrears in 2023 Q2, which was little changed compared to the previous quarter.
Copyright
The data on this page is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence.