Reference Case Number: FOI12239
Freedom of Information: Right to know request:
Please provide data from the latest quarter's Consumer Credit Data (CCR003) return, specifically relating to High-Cost Short-Term Credit (HCSTC) licensed firms.
I am seeking a distribution of firms by the total value of loans outstanding, with the following details:
Group firms into bands based on their total outstanding loan value (e.g., £0–5 million, £5–10 million, £10–15 million, etc.).
- For each band, please provide:
- The number of firms in that band
- The total number of loans issued by those firms
- The aggregate outstanding loan value for that band
If the FCA already uses existing bandings or has pre-defined loan value groups, I'm happy for those to be used.
Clarification:
I can confirm that I am requesting data only in relation to high-cost short-term credit (HCSTC) lending, and I would like the figures specifically reported under the 'high-cost short-term credit' category in the CCR003 return.
Additionally, I am happy to receive the data on an annual basis, using the latest complete annual submission per firm, as outlined in your clarification.
FCA response:
We can confirm that we hold the requested information, which can be found in the table below.
| Bands | Number of Firms | Total Number of Loans | Total Value Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 - £40K | 15 | 574 | £203,650 |
| £40K -£150K | 12 | 8724 | £1,238,609 |
| £150K -£2 million | 13 | 14729 | £7,656,110 |
| £2 million - £50 million | 14 | 545143 | £226,379,000 |
The data is sourced from the most recent Consumer Credit Return (CCR003) submissions made by firms, up to and including the reporting end date of April 2025.
Please note:
- This data includes any firm that has submitted CCR003 and recorded a positive figure for “high cost short-term credit” activities.
- Firms have been grouped into bands based on their total outstanding loan value. These bands are designed to evenly distribute the number of firms and prevent a single or small number of firms from dominating any one bracket.
- The total number of loans is based on column B of CCR003 and defined as “the total number of credit agreements on which sums are outstanding at the end of the reporting period”
- The total value outstanding is based on column A of CCR003 and defined as “the total value outstanding on credit agreements at the end of the reporting period”
- Obvious errors, such as incorrect values by orders of magnitude, have been manually corrected.