The start of 2024 saw a small rise—3%—in the number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments, reaching 96,580, as reported by UK Finance. The current economic strain and increasing interest rates are significant factors in this uptick.
The number of rental properties behind on payments stayed steady at 13,570 from the last quarter.
There was a slight decrease in both homeowners and landlords who were just starting to miss payments, which went down by 2% and 11%, respectively.
Despite this, the figures are still relatively modest, standing at 1.11% for homeowner mortgages and 0.69% for rental property mortgages in arrears. To put it in perspective, during the 2009 global financial crisis, mortgage arrears were at their highest—209,600, which is almost double the 110,150 figure of early this year.
Additionally, the current statistics on property repossessions remain quite low in a historical context, with only 1,470 repossessed in the first quarter of 2024, a 26% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the situation, Charles Roe, a director at UK Finance, said, “Although still relatively small, the quantity of mortgages in arrears is climbing as many families are squeezed by higher living costs and interest rates.”
