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 £1,442 billion in 2018 Q4, 3.3% higher than a year earlier (Table A).
- The value of gross mortgage advances grew 5.5% in the year to 2018 Q4, to £72.9 billion (Table A and Chart 1).
- The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) was £68.0 billion, 4.6% higher than a year earlier (Table A and Chart 1).
- The share of lending for remortgage was 1.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier, at 31.1% (Chart 5). The share for house purchase was 1.0 percentage points lower, at 63.5%.
- As a component of lending for house purchase, the percentage of lending to home movers fell 0.9 percentage points in the year to Q4, to 29.7% of gross advances. The other two components were broadly unchanged in the year with 21.2% of lending to first-time buyers and 12.5% for buy-to-let purchases (Chart 5).
- 4.4% of mortgages advanced in Q4 had loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 90%, compared to 3.8% a year earlier (Chart 3).
- The proportion of high loan to income (LTI) lending (loans greater than four times the value of annual income for a single buyer or greater than three times the annual income for joint buyers) remained at 46.9% in Q4, its highest value since the series began in 2007 Q1 (Chart 4).
- The value of outstanding balances with some arrears fell slightly in the quarter to £14.4 billion. As a proportion of total balances it has remained at 1.0% (Chart 6).
Download the data from the charts below - MLAR statistics: detailed tables (Excel)
Chart tips: hover over 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
|
|
Q3 |
Q4 |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2017 |
|
|
2018 |
|
|
|
Business flows |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gross advances |
70.9 |
69.1 |
62.4 |
66.7 |
73.5 |
72.9 |
|
New commitments |
69.6 |
65.0 |
61.1 |
73.1 |
72.9 |
68.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Residential loan amounts outstanding |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Regulated and Non-regulated |
1,385.5 |
1,395.9 |
1,403.1 |
1,417.3 |
1,429.6 |
1,442.1 |
Chart
Data table
- The value of gross mortgage advances grew 5.5% in the year to 2018 Q4 to £72.9 billion (Table A and Chart 1).
- The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) was 4.6% higher than a year earlier, at £68.0 billion.
Chart
Data table
- The share of mortgage loans advanced with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate continued to increase in Q4, reaching 83.8%.
- This has been offset by a 1.2 percentage point fall in the share of loans advanced with interest rates between 2% and 3% above Bank Rate in the quarter. This is now 9.4%.
- The percentage of loans advanced with interest rates 3% or more above Bank Rate was broadly unchanged in the quarter, at 6.8%.
Chart
Data table
- 4.4% of mortgages advanced in 2018 Q4 had LTV ratios exceeding 90%, compared to 3.8% a year earlier.
- The share of mortgages with LTV ratios of 75% or lower was broadly stable in the quarter at 62.3%. This compares to 64.8% a year earlier.
Chart
Data table
The proportion of high LTI lending (loans greater than four times the value of annual income for a single buyer or greater than three times the annual income for joint buyers) has remained at 46.9%, its highest since the series began in 2007 Q1. In 2018 Q4:
- New lending to borrowers with a single income who had an LTI of 4 or above is steady at 10.9%. This is 0.2 percentage points lower than a year earlier.
- New lending to borrowers with a joint income who had an LTI of 3 or above has remained at 36.0%. This is 2.1 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
Chart
Data table
- In 2018 Q4 the proportion of lending to existing borrowers in the form of remortgaging was 1.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier, at 31.1%.
- The proportion of lending for house purchase (including all buy-to-let lending) was 1.0 percentage points lower than in 2017 Q4, at 63.5%.
- As a component of lending for house purchase, the percentage of lending to home movers fell 0.9 percentage points in the year, to 29.7% of gross advances. The other two components were broadly unchanged in the year with 21.2% of lending to first-time buyers and 12.5% for buy-to-let purchases.
Chart
Data table
- The value of outstanding balances with some arrears fell by 0.5% in the quarter, to reach £14.4 billion (Chart 6).
- The proportion of total loan balances in arrears has continued to remain at 1.0%, which is the lowest since the series began in 2007 Q1