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 £1,675.8 billion at the end of 2022 Q4, 3.9% higher than a year earlier (Table A).
- The value of gross mortgage advances in 2022 Q4 was £81.6 billion, which was £4.3 billion lower than the previous quarter, but 16.3% higher than in 2021 Q4 (Table A and Chart 1).
- The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2022 Q4 was 33.5% less than the previous quarter and 24.5% less than a year earlier, at £58.4 billion. If the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and period immediately thereafter is excluded, this was the lowest observed since 2015 Q1 (Table A and Chart 1).
- The share of gross mortgage advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 93.6% in 2022 Q4, 22.0 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago and the highest seen since 2008 Q2 (Chart 2). See the Bank of England’s Effective Interest Rates data.
- The share of gross mortgage advances in 2022 Q4 with loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 90% was 5.1%, 0.9pp higher than a year earlier and the highest observed since 2020 Q1 (Chart 3).
- The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio decreased by 2.2pp on the quarter to 49.3% in 2022 Q4, the lowest seen since 2021 Q3 (Chart 4).
- The share for house purchase for owner occupation was 55.4%, down 0.8pp on the previous quarter, but up 2.3pp from 2021 Q4. The share of gross advances for remortgages for owner occupation was 27.3%, a decrease of 0.8pp since 2021 Q4, but an increase of 2.4pp since 2022 Q3 (Chart 5).
- The value of outstanding balances with arrears increased for the first time since 2021 Q1, by 4.6% over the quarter and 1.3% over the year, to £13.6 billion in 2022 Q4. This now accounts for 0.81% of outstanding mortgage balances, but remains close to the historical low of 0.78% in 2022 Q3 (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
|
|
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2021 |
|
|
|
2022 |
|
|
|
|
Business flows |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gross advances |
83.2 |
89.1 |
73.4 |
70.2 |
76.9 |
78.0 |
85.9 |
81.6 |
|
New commitments |
77.4 |
86.1 |
78.9 |
77.3 |
82.5 |
84.0 |
87.8 |
58.4 |
|
Residential loan amounts outstanding |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Regulated and Non-regulated |
1,561.6 |
1,587.6 |
1,601.9 |
1,613.5 |
1,630.8 |
1,648.8 |
1,667.1 |
1,675.8 |
*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 2022 Q4 was £81.6 billion, which was £4.3 billion lower than the previous quarter, but 16.3% higher than in 2021 Q4.
The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2022 Q4 was 33.5% less than the previous quarter and 24.5% less than a year earlier, at £58.4 billion. If the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and period immediately thereafter is excluded, this was the lowest observed since 2015 Q1.
Chart
Data table
The share of gross mortgage advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 93.6% in 2022 Q4, 0.7pp higher than last quarter. This was 22.0pp higher than a year ago and the highest seen since 2008 Q2.
The share of advances with interest rates between 2% and 3% above Bank Rate decreased over the quarter to 3.8% from 4.2%, while the share of advances with interest rates 3% or more above Bank Rate decreased by 0.3pp to 2.6% from 2022 Q3.
Chart
Data table
The share of advances with LTV ratios exceeding 90% remained broadly unchanged from the previous quarter, at 5.1% in 2022 Q4. This was 0.9pp higher than a year earlier, and the highest seen since 2020 Q1. Within this, the share of mortgages advanced with LTVs over 95% remained at 0.2%.
The share of mortgages advanced in 2022 Q4 with LTV ratios exceeding 75% decreased by 1.4pp on the quarter to 37.0%, but remained 0.3pp higher than a year earlier.
Chart
Data table
The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio decreased by 2.2pp on the quarter to 49.3% in 2022 Q4, 0.8pp lower than a year earlier, and the lowest observed since 2021 Q3 (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 10.6% of gross mortgage lending in 2022 Q4, a 0.6pp decrease compared to the previous quarter.
- Borrowers with a joint income who had a LTI of 3 or above. These loans accounted for 38.7% of gross mortgage lending in 2022 Q4, a 1.6pp decrease 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 11.9% in 2022 Q4, a fall of 0.6pp on the previous quarter but an increase of 0.1pp from 2021 Q4. The share of advances to owner occupiers was 88.1%.
Of the 88.1% of advances for owner occupiers, the share for remortgages was 27.3%, a decrease of 0.8pp since 2021 Q4, but an increase of 2.4pp since 2022 Q3. The share for house purchase was 55.4%, down 0.8pp on the previous quarter but up 2.3pp from 2021 Q4. Further advances and other mortgages (including lifetime mortgages) accounted for 5.4% of gross advances in total.
Of the 55.4% of advances for house purchases by owner occupiers, lending to first-time buyers was 0.9pp higher than in 2021 Q4, at 24.2% of gross advances. This was also 0.9pp higher than 2022 Q3, and the highest observed since 2021 Q3. The share advanced to home movers increased by 1.5pp on a year earlier, to 31.2%, but was 1.7pp lower than 2022 Q3.
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 for the first time since 2021 Q1, by 4.6% on the quarter and 1.3% on a year earlier, to £13.6 billion.
The proportion of total loan balances with arrears also slightly increased on the quarter for the first time since 2021 Q1, from a historical low of 0.78% to 0.81%.
Copyright
The data on this page is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence.