UK Mortgage Statistics 2026

The UK mortgage market carries outstanding balances of £1,746.1 billion, making it one of the largest credit markets in the economy (Bank of England, MLAR Q1 2026). Approvals for house purchase reached 65,945 in April 2026, the highest since January 2025, while the effective rate on newly drawn mortgages stood at 4.08% (Bank of England, Money and Credit April 2026). Updated June 2026.

Headline figures for 2026

Q1 2026 recorded a contraction in gross lending compared with Q4 2025, reflecting demand pulled forward ahead of Stamp Duty threshold changes in April 2025. Despite lower advance volumes, new commitments climbed to £78.0 billion (FCA, Q1 2026), 14.2% above Q1 2025. The outstanding mortgage stock reached £1,746.1 billion by end of March 2026 (Bank of England, MLAR Q1 2026).

Lending volumes and approvals

Monthly house purchase approvals have broadly recovered from the lows recorded in early 2023. Approvals reached 65,945 in April 2026, up from 60,510 in April 2025 (Bank of England, Money and Credit April 2026). Gross advances for full-year 2025 reached approximately £288 billion, with house purchase lending alone at £176 billion, a 22% rise on 2024 (UK Finance, Mortgage Market Forecasts December 2025).

Mortgage rates

The effective interest rate on newly drawn mortgages fell from its December 2023 peak of 5.28% to 4.03% in March 2026, before ticking up to 4.08% in April 2026 (Bank of England, Money and Credit series). The outstanding stock rate stood at 3.93% in March 2026 (Bank of England, Money and Credit March 2026). Bank Rate has been held at 3.75% since December 2025 (Bank of England, MPC April 2026).

Arrears and possessions

Arrears continue to fall from their recent peaks. In Q1 2026, 79,110 homeowner mortgages were in arrears of 2.5% or more of the outstanding balance, down 2% on Q4 2025 and representing 0.91% of all homeowner mortgages (UK Finance, Q1 2026). Buy-to-let arrears fell more sharply, down 24% year-on-year to 8,960 (UK Finance, Q1 2026). Possession numbers remain low: 1,250 homeowner properties were taken into possession in Q1 2026 (UK Finance, Q1 2026).

Loan-to-value and first-time buyers

The share of advances at LTV above 90% eased to 8.0% in Q1 2026, the first decrease since Q4 2024, though still 1.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier (FCA, Q1 2026). First-time buyers accounted for 27.4% of house purchase advances in Q1 2026, down 3.9 percentage points year-on-year (FCA, Q1 2026). High loan-to-income lending remained elevated: 45.1% of Q1 2026 advances went to borrowers classified as high LTI (FCA, Q1 2026).

Trends over time

The table below tracks the effective interest rate on newly drawn mortgages alongside gross lending volumes at selected reference points, drawn from Bank of England and FCA releases. The sharp rate rises of 2022-2023 suppressed lending volumes materially; subsequent Bank Rate reductions from late 2024 have supported a gradual recovery in both approvals and gross advances.

Regional breakdown

House price data by region, published by ONS using Land Registry records, shows wide divergence in annual growth as of March 2026. London recorded annual price falls of 2.1% while Northern Ireland reported the strongest growth at 7.4% (ONS / gov.uk UK House Price Index, March 2026). The average UK house price stood at £268,000 (ONS, May 2026).

Frequently asked questions

How many mortgages are currently in arrears in the UK?

As of Q1 2026, 79,110 homeowner mortgages were in arrears of 2.5% or more of the outstanding balance, representing 0.91% of all homeowner mortgages, and 8,960 buy-to-let mortgages were in arrears at 0.47% of the BTL stock (UK Finance, Q1 2026). Outstanding balances in arrears on the FCA measure stood at £20.1 billion, equivalent to 1.1% of the total residential mortgage book (FCA, Q1 2026).

What is the total outstanding mortgage debt in the UK?

The outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans stood at £1,746.1 billion at the end of Q1 2026, up 2.6% year-on-year (Bank of England, MLAR Q1 2026).

How many mortgage approvals are there each month?

Monthly house purchase approvals fluctuate with seasonal and economic conditions. In April 2026, approvals reached 65,945, the highest since January 2025 and 9% above April 2025 (Bank of England, Money and Credit April 2026). Approvals reached a low of approximately 35,600 in December 2022 (Bank of England, Money and Credit Dec 2022) before recovering through 2024 and 2025.

What is the current effective mortgage interest rate?

The effective rate on newly drawn mortgages was 4.08% in April 2026, up from 4.03% in March 2026 (Bank of England, Money and Credit April 2026). The rate on the total outstanding mortgage stock was 3.93% in March 2026 (Bank of England, Money and Credit March 2026). Both are substantially below the December 2023 peak of 5.28% on new mortgages (Bank of England, Money and Credit Dec 2023).

What share of UK mortgages are high loan-to-value?

In Q1 2026, 8.0% of gross mortgage advances were at LTV above 90%, down 0.3 percentage points on Q4 2025 but 1.4 percentage points above Q1 2025 (FCA, Q1 2026). Total advances above 75% LTV reached 45.9%, with the above-95% slice at just 0.5% (FCA, Q1 2026).

How many properties are repossessed each year?

Possession numbers remain well below long-run historical averages. UK Finance reported 1,250 homeowner properties taken into possession in Q1 2026 (UK Finance, Q1 2026). The FCA recorded 2,216 new possessions in Q1 2026, down 4.3% year-on-year (FCA, Q1 2026). UK Finance forecasts full-year 2026 possessions of approximately 9,400 cases (UK Finance, December 2025).