Homeowner mortgage arrears are at a record low but landlords are struggling currently

New industry figures state that landlord mortgage arrears have recently begun to increase.

Figures from the banking trade group UK finance illustrated there were over 5000 buy to let mortgages that were in arrears of greater than 2% or more of the balance that was outstanding in the 4th quarter in 2017, which is 2% more year on year.

Of more concern is that out of this number there were 1200 buy to let mortgages with arrears that amounted to more than ten percent of the outstanding balance, which is up over 20% annually.

 

Arrears that were worth more than 2.5% of the loan value were still down for property owners at 82,800 which was down over 7% since the last quarter of 2016.

Repossessions – 1100 home owner mortgaged properties were taken into possession of the finance providers during the fourth quarter of 2017, which is 8% down year on year, where 600 buy to let properties with mortgages were also taken into possession which was unchanged since 2016.

The head of mortgage lending at UK finance, Paul Smee said that ‘annual home owner repossessions are at present at a 36 year low, with areas overall carrying on with their decline. This on the whole reflects the industries continued focus on appropriate and sensible lending’

 

No Deposit Mortgages were also at a low compared to the figures of 2016 and findings of the study by analysts were indicative that this trend may continue through until 2019.

 

The MD of One 77 mortgages, Mr A Mckee suggested that home owners are currently being supported by low rates and stated that it was the divergence in the fortunes of homeowners and landlords that shines through out of the data.

He said: “It’s the divergence in the fortunes of landlords and home owners that comes through in this data.

“The basic facts of the matter are that home owners have been able to remortgage and buy themselves time, but people with buy to let mortgages do not have the same room for refinancing to give themselves some time”