Today we published our Arrears and Possessions update for Q1 2020 showing that mortgages arrears and possessions remain low amid recent economic uncertainties due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The industry response to Covid-19 has been unprecedented. Over 1.6 million mortgage payment holidays have been granted, lenders are helping customers with a payment holiday switch products at the end of their fixed-rate mortgage and a moratorium on possessions has been granted, among several other initiatives. This is just the response within the mortgage market, with the list of the multiple schemes and agreements across the whole of the financial industry long enough to greatly exceed the length of this blog.

The figures today highlight the importance of the work that the industry has done so far. While we did see a modest increase in arrears from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020 (the vast majority of which were new arrears in March), this rise relates to the very earliest effects of the Covid-19 outbreak at the start of March, with the payment holiday scheme being introduced shortly after this, helping to prevent further payment issues for borrowers who might be struggling.

There was a small decrease in the number of residential possessions and an increase in buy-to-let possessions compared to this time last year, which is due to the backlog of historic cases and ensuring that these are being processed on the same basis as the latest regulatory requirements. Lenders continue to show flexibility to borrowers in financial difficulty and possession is always a last resort.

With both the payment holiday scheme and the possessions moratorium in place, the mortgage industry continues to proactively provide support to existing customers that are struggling with meeting their payments.

Lenders want to help if you are struggling with mortgage payments, so we would always encourage you to visit your mortgage lenders website for more information on how they can assist you.