Since the beginning of 2007, some 300 regulated mortgage lenders and administrators have been required to submit a Mortgage Lending & Administration Return (MLAR) each quarter, providing data on their mortgage lending activities. We published the first set of statistics based on these data in August 2008.

This latest edition covers the period from 2007 Q4 to the end of 2009 Q1. As these new reporting and analytical processes have now become more established, we intend to publish statistics more quickly: approximately 2½ months after the end of each quarter. Provisional dates are shown under future editions.

The MLAR covers both regulated and non-regulated residential lending to individuals. Regulated loans are secured by a first charge on residential property, where the property is for the use of the borrower or a close relative. Non-regulated lending includes buy to let, second charge and, in some cases, further advances on loans that were originally taken out before regulation came into effect.

The MLAR provides a range of information on lending activities, including

  • balances of all outstanding loans
  • new advances and commitments, including purpose of loans
  • unsecuritised and securitised loans
  • interest rates on loans
  • lending criteria, including loan to value (LTV) and income multiples
  • lending to those with impaired credit histories; and
  • arrears and possessions

Key results: as at 2009 Q1

  • The total value of outstanding loans is now just under £1,200bn, an increase of only 2% compared to a year earlier. But quarterly growth has stalled, with a fall of 0.2% or £2bn in Q1 resulting in almost zero growth over the last two quarters.

  • New lending peaked in Q3 2007 at £102bn before progressively declining to £33bn in Q1, leaving gross lending 27% lower in the quarter, and 56% lower than a year earlier.
  • The value of new loans for house purchase fell by 30% in Q1 to £12bn, to show a decline of 62% on a year earlier.
  • But the downward trend in new commitments for house purchase came to a halt in Q1. New commitments rose to £12.6bn after £12bn in Q4. Even so, volumes are still 52% down on a year ago.
  • Proportions of new lending done at an LTV of more than 90% continue to fall. From a peak of 15% of new lending in early 2007, this fell to 10% in early 2008, and to just under 4% in Q1. The use of combinations of high LTVs and high income multiples has also declined: from 9% of new lending for most of 2007, to 7% in Q2 last year, to just under 4% in Q4 and to 2% in Q1.
  • Loans to borrowers with an impaired credit history represented just 0.7% of new lending in Q1, compared to 2.4% a year earlier.
  • Helped by lower interest rates, numbers of new arrears cases in Q1 were 12% fewer at 60,000 after the 68,000 recorded in Q4, and are now back to volumes seen in Q3. Even so, this is still 10% more than the typical quarterly volumes of 54,000 seen in the 18 months to mid 2008.
  • But with borrowers increasingly struggling to clear their arrears, the total number of loan accounts in arrears has been steadily increasing since early 2007. At the end of Q1 there were 399,000 loan accounts in arrears, giving an increase of 22,000 or 6% since Q4, and representing a rise of 33% on a year earlier.
  • The proportion of the residential loan book that is in arrears, and hence not fully performing, rose to 3.64% at end Q1, up 0.27% in the quarter and up 1.23% on a year earlier.
  • Numbers of new possessions have grown significantly since Q3 2007, but the sharply rising trend noted up to Q3 last year appears to have moderated in the last two quarters. After 13,469 cases in Q3, numbers fell to 13,115 in Q4 with a 13% rise in Q1 to 14,825 cases. New possessions in Q1 were nonetheless 62% higher than a year earlier.

Summary and full statistical tables are available below, and are accompanied by a commentary giving further technical information on the MLAR as well as further discussion of the results.

MLAR Statistics : June 2009 Edition

For any technical queries on the tables contact: MLAR Statistics