Credit, collections & insolvency news
Mortgage lending rose for the second consecutive quarter to reach £41.4bn in Quarter 3 (Q3), up 15% compared to the same three months of last year, according to latest data UK Finance. Mortgage activity throughout 2024 has been very sensitive to changes in product pricing. In the third quarter, as lenders were able to reduce…
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Latest Data from the Bank of England shows that UK lenders approved the most mortgages in more than two years in October, with 68,300 home loans given the green light. This was the highest monthly total since August 2022 and compares to 66,115 approvals in September. While brokers had been anticipating a rebound in activity…
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New research by Mojo Mortgages’ data has revealed that extending a mortgage from 25 to 35 years can cost the average first-time buyer an extra £87,180. The data found based on the average mortgage rate and house price, extending your mortgage rate by 1 year can cost an additional £8,472. 2 years can cost an…
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A new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates that an extra 320,000 people have been pushed into poverty as they moved onto more expensive deals, as a result of the rise in mortgage rates in 2022 and 2023. The rise in mortgage rates saw the average rate for a two-year fixed mortgage…
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The cost of living pressures are easing for some households due to lower inflation and strong wage growth, however for many, high house prices and mortgage rates are adding to affordability pressures on first-time buyers and those looking to re-mortgage or move home according to aProperty Tracker report from the Building Societies Association (BSA). The…
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The number of mortgages in arrears, relative to all outstanding mortgage balances, increased to 1.28% in Quarter 1, according to figures from the Bank of England. The data shows an increase of 1.23% in the final quarter of 2023, taking it to the highest proportion since the end of 2016. The value of outstanding mortgage…
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Data sourced from millions of Barclays current accounts has indicated that spending on rent and mortgages increased 6.3 per cent year-on-year in May – faster than April’s uplift of 3.6 per cent. However, signs of optimism are emerging owing to falling inflation and energy prices, and increased spending on home improvement shows indicators of recovery…
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New analysis by Moneyfacts has shown that the average ‘shelf-life’ of a mortgage has nearly halved in a month. At the start of May the average mortgage spent 28 days on the market, by the start of June the average had fallen to just 15 days. While deals are typically spending less time on the…
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UK Finance has released its latest Household Finance Review for Q1 2024 with the reporting highlighting that mortgage borrowing has decreased when compared with the same period the year before, despite a rise in mortgage applications at the end of 2023. Towards the end of last year as mortgage rates started to reduce, there was…
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Almost one in two homeowners aged 55 or over will pay an additional £400 a month on their mortgage after their current fixed rate deal expires according to research by Key Later Life Finance. A total of 47% of homeowners in this age bracket said they expected repayments to rise by an average of £5,000…
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New polling by YouGov for StepChange Debt Charity shows that nearly one in four (23%) UK mortgage holders has turned to some other form of credit or borrowing in the last three months so that they could keep up with existing borrowing commitments. This comes as the Bank of England is expected to hold interest…
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Mortgage approvals have reached their highest levels in 18 months, indicating a return of confidence to the property market, according to Bank of England data. In March, there were 61,300 net mortgage approvals, the highest since September 2022. Gross mortgage lending also rose to £20.1 billionn, the highest in 13 months. However, mortgage approvals are…
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The average age when an adult buys a home for the first time is 36, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. Homeownership age in 2022 has increased by four years from 2004. The data shows that first-time buyers are increasingly reliant on help from family and friends to get onto the housing ladder.…
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