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 2010 Q3 to the 2011 Q4. We publish statistics 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 statistics for Q4 2011 are as follows1:
- The total value of outstanding loans at the end of Q4 was £1,218bn, an increase of less than 0.1% on last quarter (paras 3-4).
- New advances in the quarter amounted to £40bn, 8% lower than in Q3 but some 9% higher than the amount advanced in Q4 2010 (para 7).
- The overall average interest rate on new advances continued to fall during the quarter, down from 3.59% to 3.49%, a new low for the series. The reduction was a result of a fall in the rate for fixed rate lending more than offsetting a small increase in the variable rate (para 8).
- New commitments totalled £37bn in the quarter, 11% down on Q3 but 7% higher than in Q4 last year (para 7).
- Lending for house purchase accounted for 61% of new advances, up on Q3, and 58% of commitments, a small decrease from last quarter. The proportion of advances for remortgages (32%) was much as in Q3, though there was an increase in commitments from 32% to 34% (para 9).
- The proportion of new lending done at an LTV of more than 90% continued to be below 2% in Q4, as it was throughout 2011 (para 11).
- New lending with a combination of high LTV and high income multiple rose slightly in the final quarter of the year and accounted for just over 1% of new lending (para 11).
- The proportion of loans to borrowers with an impaired credit history remained at 0.4% for the third successive quarter. It has been below 1% since the end of 2008 (para 12).
- In Q4 there were 34,600 new arrears cases which was down 1% on last quarter and 14% lower than in Q4 last year (para 14).
- Consequently, the total number of accounts in arrears at the end of the quarter also fell and, at 313,200, was 3% down on Q3 and 9% below Q4 2010 (para 15).
- The proportion of the residential loan book that is in arrears, and hence not fully performing also continued on a downward trend, to 2.61% from 2.72% last quarter (para 18).
- The number of new possessions in the quarter fell by 9% to 8,827 (para 22).
- Arrears totalling £36m on 9,815 accounts were capitalised in Q4 (para 21).
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: March 2012 Edition
For any technical queries on the tables contact: MLAR Statistics
1 All references to ‘Q4’ relate to 2011 Q4 unless otherwise specified.
