It showed a fall in the number of mortgages in every arrears band, and the lowest quarterly number of possessions since we began publishing quarterly data at the start of 2008.
If you didn’t notice them, that might be because – being good news – they were scarcely seen as news at all.
But that doesn’t make the numbers any less important. They show us so many things.
They show us how supportive the low interest rate environment has been for mortgage borrowers – managing to keep the repossession rate at less than half of its equivalent in the last major economic and housing downturn has been a quite remarkable feature of this one.
They show us how good lenders have become at managing arrears in such a way that repossession really is a last resort. The huge gulf between the number of arrears cases and the number of repossessions really ought to persuade even the harshest critic that forbearance is a firmly embedded characteristic of how lenders deal with borrowers who have financial problems.
They show us that, despite what anyone says, most of the lending that was originated before the financial crisis was completely responsible – properly assessed for affordability, properly underwritten, properly checked and properly administered.
They show us that both we – and customers – nevertheless need to guard against complacency, and plan ahead for an environment where interest rates, at least, might not be so benign and the balance may tip in the opposite direction.
And sadly, they also show us that when the lending industry is doing things that the outside world can’t find too much fault with, those things don’t necessarily make headlines.
Sue Anderson is head of member and external relations at the Council of Mortgage Lenders
