Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Bank of England has published its latest lending figures. The figures show that high loan to value (LTV) mortgages advanced in the three months to September accounted for the largest share of overall mortgages in more than a decade.
Quarter three statistics from the Bank of England revealed that the share of lending above 90 percent loan to value (LTV) was 5.9 percent.
The outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans was £1,486 billion in 2019 Q3, 3.9% higher than a year earlier The value of gross mortgage advances was £73.3 billion, broadly unchanged in comparison to 2018 Q3.
The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) was 1.1% higher than a year earlier, at £73.8 billion.
Whilst the value of outstanding balances with some arrears fell significantly to £13.7 billion, and now accounts for 0.92% of outstanding mortgage balances.
Mark Pilling, Spicerhaart Corporate Sales managing director, said“The Q3 arrears figures from Bank of England are encouraging, especially given the current political situation. It just shows that no matter what is going on in Westminster people are looking after their own affairs and trying to stay on top of things.
“The trend for higher loan to value mortgages is always a concern, as we head into uncharted waters next year. There is no way, at the moment, to predict what will happen in the economy when, and if, Brexit is completed and there is a real risk that interest rates will rise. With this in mind, it is more important than ever for lenders to ensure long term affordability. We do not want to find ourselves back in a situation where repossessions begin to rise and people lose their homes.”
