Regulators publish mortgage lending statistics

The FCA and PRA have published their mortgage lending statistics for Q1 2026. The latest findings show that:

• The outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans increased by 0.7% from the previous quarter, to £1.7bn, and was 2.6% higher than last year;
• The value of gross mortgage advances decreased by 12.3% against Q4 2025, to £69.6bn, and was 10.2% lower than last year; and
• The value of new mortgage commitments increased by 11.5% against Q4 2025, to £7bn, and was 14.2% higher than last year.

The government has also published its quarterly Mortgage Charter uptake data. The Charter has 47 signatories, representing around 90% of the mortgage market. Key findings were:

• Around 500k mortgages locked into a new deal up to 6 months ahead of maturity, compared to around 360k in Q4 2025;
• Between July 2023 (the start of the Charter) and March 2026, monthly payments on around 331k mortgages (around 3.7%) were reduced as borrowers switched to temporarily paying interest-only or extended their mortgage term. In Q1 2026, around 20k mortgages saw a reduction for these reasons, which is largely unchanged against Q4 2025; and
• Between July 2023 and March 2026, 342 properties were repossessed within 12 months of missing the first repayment.

The statistics come as the FCA has published a consultation on further changes to mortgage lending rules to enable lending to an increased amount of creditworthy customers, and a research note on mortgage arrears risk for first-time buyers.