First quarter saw drop in mortgage arrears

May 24, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill

Mortgage Advisors

The opening quarter of this year brought a drop in the mortgage arrears total for the UK, according to the latest figures.

Those figures come from UK Finance and they show that arrears fell in both the buy-to-let (BTL) and purchase segments. When it comes to purchase mortgages with arrears of at least 2.5% of the balance, there was a 2% drop in the opening quarter. The total number for 2026 Q1 was 79,110.

For BTL mortgage arrears, the situation was even better. They fell by 6% in comparison with the final quarter of last year. Furthermore, when compared with the same quarter of 2025, the drop was 24%.

The total proportion of UK mortgages that are currently in arrears is very low across both market segments. For purchase mortgages, it is 0.9%, while for BTL ones it is 0.47%. This is far better than the situation following the 2008 financial crisis, which saw mortgage arrears hit a peak.

The UK Finance data does show a slight rise in the number of property repossessions, but this is still below average based on earlier figures. A majority of the properties repossessed during the first quarter were mortgaged a decade ago or more.

James Tatch is the UK Finance analytics head. Speaking to Mortgage Introducer, he said:

“The number of mortgages in arrears continues to fall for both residential and buy-to-let mortgages. While possessions are up very slightly on the previous quarter, they remain low by historic standards.”

This suggests buyers are using an advisor with the CeMAP qualification to secure affordable mortgages.