Commentary on Mortgage lending statistics Q3 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 £1,667.1 billion at the end of 2022 Q3, 4.1% higher than a year earlier (Table A).
  • The value of gross mortgage advances in 2022 Q3 was £85.9 billion, which was £8.0 billion greater than the previous quarter, and 17.0% higher than in 2021 Q3 (Table A and Chart 1).
  • The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2022 Q3 was 4.5% greater than the previous quarter and the highest value recorded since 2007 Q3 (Table A and Chart 1).
  • The share of gross mortgage advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 93.0% in 2022 Q3, 35.7 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago, and the highest observed since 2008 Q2 (Chart 2). See the Bank of England’s Effective Interest Rates data.
  • The share of gross mortgage advances in 2022 Q3 with loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 90% was 5.0%, 0.9pp higher than a year earlier and the highest seen since 2020 Q1 (Chart 3).
  • The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio increased by 1.0pp on the quarter to 51.5% in 2022 Q3, the same as 2021 Q2 and the highest since recording began in 2007 (Chart 4).
  • The share for house purchase for owner occupation was 56.1%, up 3.7pp on the previous quarter, but down 2.7pp from 2021 Q3. The share of gross advances for remortgages for owner occupation was 24.9%, an increase of 2.0pp since 2021 Q3, but a decrease of 2.1pp since 2022 Q2 (Chart 5).
  • The value of outstanding balances with arrears decreased by 1.4% over the quarter and 5.1% over the year, to £13.1 billion in 2022 Q3, and now accounts for 0.78% 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

 

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

 

2020

2021

 

 

 

2022

 

 

Business flows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross advances

76.6

83.2

89.1

73.4

70.2

76.9

78.0

85.9

New commitments

87.7

77.4

86.1

78.9

77.3

82.5

84.0

87.8

                 

Residential loan amounts outstanding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Regulated and Non-regulated

1,541.5

1,561.6

1,587.6

1,601.9

1,613.5

1,630.8

1,648.8

1,667.1

*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 Q3 was £85.9 billion, which was £8.0 billion greater than the previous quarter, and 17.0% higher than in 2021 Q3.

The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2022 Q3 was 4.5% greater than the previous quarter and 11.2% greater than a year earlier, at £87.8 billion. This was also the highest value recorded since 2007 Q3.

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Data table

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The share of gross mortgage advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 93.0% in 2022 Q3, 1.6pp higher than last quarter. This was also 35.7pp 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 4.2% from 5.3%, while the share of advances with interest rates 3% or more above Bank Rate decreased by 0.5pp to 2.8% from 2022 Q2.

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Data table

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The share of advances with LTV ratios exceeding 90% increased on the quarter, by 0.6pp, to 5.0% in 2022 Q3. 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% was 0.2%, broadly unchanged compared to the previous quarter.

The share of mortgages advanced in 2022 Q3 with LTV ratios exceeding 75% increased by 0.2pp on the quarter to 38.4%. This is 1.9pp lower than a year earlier.

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The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio increased by 1.0pp on the quarter to 51.5% in 2022 Q3, also 3.0pp higher than a year earlier. This was broadly the same as 2021 Q2 and the highest since recording began in 2007. 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 11.2% of gross mortgage lending in 2022 Q3, a 0.1pp decrease compared to the previous quarter.
  • Borrowers with a joint income who had a LTI of 3 or above. These loans accounted for 40.3% of gross mortgage lending in 2022 Q3, a 1.1pp increase 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 12.5% in 2022 Q3, a fall of 1.2pp on the previous quarter but an increase of 0.6pp from 2021 Q3 (Chart 5). The share of advances to owner occupiers was 87.5%.

Of the 87.5% of advances for owner occupiers, the share for remortgages was 24.9%, an increase of 2.0pp since 2021 Q3, but a decrease of 2.1pp since 2022 Q2. The share for house purchase was 56.1%, up 3.7pp on the previous quarter but down 2.7pp from 2021 Q3. Further advances and other mortgages (including lifetime mortgages) accounted for 6.4% of gross advances in total.

Of the 56.1% of advances for house purchases by owner occupiers, lending to first-time buyers was 1.0pp lower than in 2021 Q3, at 23.3% of gross advances, but was 0.9pp higher than 2022 Q2. The share advanced to home movers decreased by 1.7pp on a year earlier, to 32.9%, but was 2.9pp higher than 2022 Q2.

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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 1.4% on the quarter and 5.1% on a year earlier, to £13.1 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 0.80% to 0.78%, also the lowest since recording began.

Copyright

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