The total value of outstanding loans is now £1.2bn, an increase of 1% compared to a year earlier. New advances totalled £40bn, an increase of 20% on Q2, but remain lower than the £61bn advanced in Q3 2008.

Lending for house purchase has continued to represent an increasing share of new lending, accounting for 57% of new advances and 62% of new commitments in this
latest quarter.

Remortgages accounted for 34%, the lowest proportion since the series began in 2007.
The proportion of new lending done at an LTV of more than 90% continued to fall and accounted for less than 2% of new advances in the quarter.

The use of combinations of high LTVs and high income multiples also continued to decrease, down to 1% of new lending in Q3. The proportion of loans to borrowers with an impaired credit history remained unchanged from last quarter, at a series low of 0.4%.

The number of new arrears cases continued to fall, down by 10% in the quarter to 46,000. At the end of Q3 the number of accounts in arrears had fallen to 395,000, a decrease of 2% in the quarter, but 16% higher than in Q3 2008. The number of new possessions totalled 14,000, a 2.8% increase on Q2, but some 5% below the peak at the start of the year.

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