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 £1,613.4 billion at the end of 2021 Q4, 4.7% higher than a year earlier (Table A).
- The value of gross mortgage advances in 2021 Q4 was £70.2 billion, 8.4% lower than in 2020 Q4, and the lowest level since 2020 Q3 (Table A and Chart 1).
- The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2021 Q4 was 2.0% less than the previous quarter at £77.3 billion, and 11.9% less than the recent peak of £87.7 billion a year earlier (Table A and Chart 1).
- The share of gross advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 71.3% in 2021 Q4, 6.5 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago, and the highest seen since 2020 Q3. The increase was driven by the 15bp increase in Bank Rate in December 2021 rather than any significant change in mortgage interest rates (Chart 2).
- The share of mortgages advanced in 2021 Q4 with loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 90% was 4.2%, 3.0pp higher than a year earlier but broadly unchanged compared to the previous quarter (Chart 3).
- The share for house purchase for owner occupation returned towards pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, at 53.0%, down 10.9pp from 2020 Q4. The share of gross advances for remortgages for owner occupation also moved towards levels observed before the pandemic, at 28.1%, an increase of 9.7pp since 2020 Q4 (Chart 5).
- The value of outstanding balances with arrears decreased by 2.1% over the quarter to £13.5 billion in 2021 Q4, and now accounts for 0.84% 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)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2020 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|
|
|
|
Business flows |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Gross advances |
65.8 | 44.2 |
62.5 |
76.6 |
83.2 |
89.1 |
73.4 |
70.2 |
|
New commitments |
67.3 | 34.4 |
78.9 |
87.7 |
77.4 |
86.1 |
78.9 |
77.3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Residential loan amounts outstanding |
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Total Regulated and Non-regulated |
1,507.7 | 1,514.8 |
1,526.0 |
1,541.4 |
1,561.8 |
1,587.6 |
1,601.9 |
1,613.4 |
*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 2021 Q4 was £70.2 billion, 8.4% lower than in 2020 Q4, and the lowest level since 2020 Q3 (Table A and Chart 1).
The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2021 Q4 was 2.0% less than the previous quarter at £77.3 billion, and 11.9% less than the recent peak of £87.7 billion a year earlier (Table A and Chart 1). This showed a return towards levels observed before the coronavirus pandemic, where the 4-quarter average up to 2020 Q2 was £71.3 billion.
Chart
Data table
The share of gross advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 71.3% in 2021 Q4, 6.5 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago, and the highest seen since 2020 Q3. The increase was driven by the 15bp increase in Bank Rate in December 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 19.0% from 27.2%, while the share of advances with interest rates 3% or more above Bank Rate decreased by 5.8pp to 9.8% from 2021 Q3.
Chart
Data table
The share of advances with LTV ratios exceeding 90% remained at 4.2% in 2021 Q4, the highest observed since 2020 Q2 and 3.0pp higher than a year earlier (Chart 3). Within this, the share of mortgages advanced with LTVs over 95% was 0.2%, 0.1pp down on the previous quarter.
The share of mortgages advanced in 2021 Q4 with loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 75% decreased by 3.6pp on the quarter to 36.7%. This is also 3.3pp lower than a year earlier.
Chart
Data table
The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio increased by 1.7pp on the quarter to 50.2% in 2021 Q4, little changed from 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 2021 Q4, a 0.5pp increase compared to the previous quarter.
- Borrowers with a joint income who had a LTI of 3 or above. These loans accounted for 38.4% of gross mortgage lending in 2021 Q4, a 1.2pp 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 11.8% in 2021 Q4, an increase of 0.6pp from 2020 Q4 (Chart 5). The share of advances to owner occupiers was 88.2%.
Of the 88.2% of advances for owner occupiers, the share for remortgages was 28.1%, an increase of 9.7pp since 2020 Q4, and an increase on the previous quarter of 5.2pp. This was the highest share for remortgages since 2020 Q2, and showed a return towards the levels observed before the coronavirus pandemic. The share for house purchase was the lowest observed since 2020 Q2, at 53.0%, down 5.8pp on the previous quarter and also down 10.9pp from 2020 Q4. Further advances and other mortgages (including lifetime mortgages) accounted for 7.1% of gross advances in total.
Of the 53.0% of advances for house purchases by owner occupiers, lending to first-time buyers was 1.0pp lower than in 2020 Q4, at 23.3% of gross advances, and 1.0pp lower than 2021 Q3. The share advanced to home movers decreased by 9.8pp on a year earlier, to 29.7%, and was 4.9pp lower than 2021 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) decreased by 2.1% on the quarter, to £13.5 billion, the lowest it has been since 2019 Q4 (Chart 6).
The proportion of total loan balances with arrears decreased on the quarter from 0.86% to 0.84%, the lowest since recording began in 2007.
Copyright
The data on this page is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence.