Arrears and possessions

Latest Data - Q4 2024

Published on 06/02/2025

Key data highlights:

• There were 92,170 homeowner mortgages in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of the outstanding balance in the fourth quarter of 2024, 2 per cent fewer than in the previous quarter.
• Within the total, there were 31,720 homeowner mortgages in the lightest arrears band (representing between 2.5 and 5 per cent of the outstanding balance). This was 3 per cent fewer than in the previous quarter.
• There were 12,610 buy-to-let mortgages in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of the outstanding balance in the fourth quarter of 2024, 3 per cent fewer than in the previous quarter.
• Within the total, there were 4,810 buy-to-let mortgages in the lightest arrears band (representing between 2.5 and 5 per cent of the outstanding balance). This was 5 per cent fewer than in the previous quarter.
• Mortgages in arrears accounted for 1.06 per cent of all homeowner mortgages outstanding, and 0.65 per cent of all buy-to-let mortgages outstanding in the fourth quarter of 2024.
• Although 1,030 homeowner mortgaged properties were taken into possession in the fourth quarter of 2024, 12 per cent greater than in the previous quarter, the numbers remain significantly less than the long-term average.
• 700 buy-to-let mortgaged properties were taken into possession in the fourth quarter of 2024, unchanged from the previous quarter.
• Whilst possession numbers have risen significantly in percentage terms since the artificially low numbers through the pandemic, they remain very low by historic comparisons. The 6,440 possessions taken through 2024 was 20 per cent lower than the average seen in the five years before 2020 and 87 per cent below the previous peak seen in 2009.

Mortgage Arrears Possessions Update - 6 February 2025