BoE reports rise in UK mortgage arrears

March 22, 2023 by Brendan O'Neill

Surveys and Statistics

The Bank of England (BoE) is reporting that there was an increase in both the value and level of mortgage arrears during the final quarter of last year, marking the first such increase in close to two years.

This was reported in the Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics published by the BoE in collaboration with the Financial Conduct Authority. It shows that there was a 4.6% rise in balances that are still outstanding with mortgage arrears valuations during the last quarter of 2022. When looked at for the year as a whole, this value rose by 1.3%, which took it to £13.6 billion.

There was also an increase in the overall proportion of mortgage arrears, with this going up to 0.81%. However, while that may cause some concern, it is ultimately still within the range of the 0.78% figure reported for the third quarter of last year, which marked a record low.

The majority of the mortgage arrears are made up of people who still owe a minimum 10% of their loans and those owing up to 5% of the total. Speaking to Mortgage Solutions, Adam Oldfield from Phoebus Software stated that overall arrears remain at a low level, before adding:

“We could see this picture change in the coming months if predictions from Fitch last week play out. Nevertheless, even if the increase is up to 1.5% over the course of this year, it will be to more normal levels, rather than alarming levels.”

Those with CeMAP course training can opt to promote their services to people in arrears.