The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) increased by 30.8% from the previous quarter to £60.1bn in Q1, new data from the Bank of England has revealed.
According to the bank’s latest Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics for Q1 2024, the outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans decreased by 0.1% from the previous quarter to £1,654.9bn, and was 1.4% lower than a year earlier.
The value of gross mortgage advances decreased by 2.6% from the previous quarter to £51.6bn, the lowest since 2020 Q2.
The value of new mortgage commitments (lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months) increased by 30.8% from the previous quarter to £60.1bn and was 31.2% greater than a year earlier.
The proportion of lending to borrowers with a high loan to income (LTI) ratio decreased by 3.0% from the previous quarter to 39.7% and was 4.1% lower than a year earlier.
This was the lowest since 2016 Q1.
The share of gross mortgage advances for house purchase for owner occupation decreased by 5.1% from the previous quarter to 54.6% but was 4.3% higher than the year previous.
New arrears cases decreased by 2.0% from the previous quarter, to 11.4% of the total outstanding balances with arrears, the lowest since 2022 Q3.
The value of outstanding mortgage balances with arrears increased by 4.2% from the previous quarter, to £21.3bn, and was 44.5% higher than in Q1 2023.
The proportion of the total loan balances with arrears, relative to all outstanding mortgage balances, increased on the quarter from 1.23% to 1.28%, the highest since 2016 Q4.
Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, said: “It is good to see that the value of new mortgage commitments has increased, and that the share of gross mortgage advances for buy-to-let purposes has seen growth.
“These figures demonstrate that there is positive economic news out there despite elevated interest rates.
“Propertymark remain positive overall economic activity in the housing market will further increase once the Bank of England feels ready to start cutting interest rates and when we have more certainty about housing policies following the election of a new government next month.”
