Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics - 2022 Q1

Key findings

• The outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans was £1,630.5 billion at the end of 2022 Q1, 4.4% higher than a year earlier (Table A).¹
• The value of gross mortgage advances in 2022 Q1 was £76.9 billion, which was £6.7 billion greater than the previous quarter, but 7.5% lower than in 2021 Q1 (Table A and Chart 1).
• The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2022 Q1 was 6.7% greater than the previous quarter and 6.6% greater than a year earlier, at £82.5 billion (Table A and Chart 1).
• The share of gross advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 85.5% in 2022 Q1, 26.5 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago, and the highest seen since 2008 Q3. The increase was mostly driven by the 50 basis points (bp) increase in Bank Rate across the quarter, rather than any significant change in mortgage interest rates (Chart 2).
• The share of mortgages advanced in 2022 Q1 with loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 90% was 3.9%, 2.8pp higher than a year earlier but a 0.2pp decrease compared to the previous quarter (Chart 3).
• The share for house purchase for owner occupation was 50.7%, down 2.3pp on the previous quarter, and down 13.4pp from 2021 Q1. The share of gross advances for remortgages for owner occupation was 29.0%, an increase of 11.0pp since 2021 Q1, and an increase of 0.8pp since 2021 Q4 (Chart 5).
• The value of outstanding balances with arrears decreased by 1.1% over the quarter and 11.3% over the year, to £13.3 billion in 2022 Q1, and now accounts for 0.82% of outstanding mortgage balances, the lowest since recording began in 2007 (Chart 6).

Table A: Residential loans to individuals, flows and balances

Regulated and non-regulated mortgages *
£ billions
Not seasonally adjusted

Graphical Analysis:

• The value of gross mortgage advances in 2022 Q1 was £76.9 billion, which was £6.7 billion greater than the previous quarter, but 7.5% lower than in 2021 Q1 (Table A and Chart 1).²
• The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) in 2022 Q1 was 6.7% greater than the previous quarter and 6.6% greater than a year earlier, at £82.5 billion (Table A and Chart 1).³

• The share of gross advances with interest rates less than 2% above Bank Rate was 85.5% in 2022 Q1, 26.5pp higher than a year ago, and the highest seen since 2008 Q3. The increase was mostly driven by the 50bp increase in Bank Rate across the quarter, rather than any significant change in mortgage interest rates (Chart 2).⁴
• The share of advances with interest rates between 2% and 3% above Bank Rate decreased over the quarter to 9.8% from 19.0%, while the share of advances with interest rates 3% or more above Bank Rate decreased by 5.0pp to 4.7% from 2021 Q4.^5,6

• The share of advances with LTV ratios exceeding 90% decreased on the quarter, by 0.2pp, to 3.9% in 2022 Q1. This was 2.8pp higher than a year earlier (Chart 3).⁷ Within this, the share of mortgages advanced with LTVs over 95% was 0.2%, broadly unchanged compared to the previous quarter.⁹
• The share of mortgages advanced in 2022 Q1 with LTV ratios exceeding 75% decreased by 1.2pp on the quarter to 35.5%. This is also 1.3pp lower than a year earlier, and the lowest seen since 2018 Q1.⁸

The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio decreased by 0.5pp on the quarter to 49.7% in 2022 Q1, but was 0.1pp higher than a year earlier (Chart 4).¹⁰ 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 2022 Q1, broadly unchanged compared to the previous quarter.¹¹
• Borrowers with a joint income who had a LTI of 3 or above. These loans accounted for 37.8% of gross mortgage lending in 2022 Q1, a 0.5pp decrease compared to the previous quarter.¹²

• The share of gross mortgage advances for buy-to-let purposes (covering house purchase, remortgage and further advance) was 13.4% in 2022 Q1, an increase of 1.7pp from 2021 Q1 (Chart 5). The share of advances to owner occupiers was 86.6%.^13,14
• Of the 86.6% of advances for owner occupiers, the share for remortgages was 29.0%, an increase of 11.0pp since 2021 Q1, and an increase of 0.8pp since 2021 Q4. The share for house purchase was 50.7%, down 2.3pp on the previous quarter and down 13.4pp from 2021 Q1. Further advances and other mortgages (including lifetime mortgages) accounted for 6.9% of gross advances in total.^15,16,17
• Of the 50.7% of advances for house purchases by owner occupiers, lending to first-time buyers was 0.5pp lower than in 2021 Q1, at 21.4% of gross advances, and was 1.9pp lower than 2021 Q4. The share advanced to home movers decreased by 13.0pp on a year earlier, to 29.3%, and was 0.4pp lower than 2021 Q4.^18,19

• 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 1.1% on the quarter and 11.3% on a year earlier, to £13.3 billion, the lowest it has been since recording began in 2007 (Chart 6).²⁰
• The proportion of total loan balances with arrears decreased on the quarter from 0.84% to 0.82%, also the lowest since recording began.²¹

Appendix

Below is a list detailing where the information in the statistics release can be found in the detailed table:

¹ Table 1.11 sub table A row 9

² Table 1.21 sub table C row 1

³ Table 1.21 sub table C row 3

⁴ Table 1.22 sub table C row 3 (less than 2% above)

⁵ Table 1.22 sub table C row 4 (2.00% to 2.99% above)

⁶ Table 1.22 sub table C row 5 + row 6 (3% or more above)

⁷ Table 1.31 sub table C row 19 + row 20

⁸ 100% - Table 1.31 sub table C row 17

⁹ Table 1.31 sub table C row 20

¹⁰ Table 1.31 sub table C row 5 + row 13

¹¹ Table 1.31 sub table C row 5

¹² Table 1.31 sub table C row 13

¹³ Table 1.33 sub table C row 4 (buy-to-let)

¹⁴ 100% - Table 1.33 sub table C row 4 (owner-occupation)

¹⁵ Table 1.33 sub table C row 6 (remortgage)

¹⁶ Table 1.33 sub table C row 2 + row 3 (house purchase owner occupation)

¹⁷ Table 1.33 sub table C row 5 + row 9 (further advance and other)

¹⁸ Table 1.33 sub table C row 2 (first-time buyers)

¹⁹ Table 1.33 sub table C row 3 (home movers)

²⁰ Table 1.7 sub table C row 10

²¹ Table 1.7 sub table C row 11

Queries

If you have any comments or queries about this release please email mlar@bankofengland.co.uk.

Next release date: 13 September 2022

• Further details about mortgage lenders and administrators statistics
• Further details on MLAR available from the FCA
• MLAR form