According to Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority statistics, payments received as a percentage of payments due to lenders fell to 61.1% in Q3, down from 61.6% three months earlier.
However, the figures, which are compiled from regulated firms, showed that the number of new arrears cases fell by 2.2% in the third quarter, the lowest level since the series began in 2007.
Gross advances of £61.1bn were recorded in the third quarter of 2015, 18.2% higher than in the previous quarter and 11.1% more than the same period in 2014. Residential loans outstanding rose to £1,281.9bn, an increase of 0.8% on the second quarter and a 2.1% annual rise.
As the prospect of a rise in interest rates draws closer, fixed rate deals appeared a more attractive option to borrowers, with these making up 80.7% of mortgage advances, compared to 78.9% three months earlier.
The proportion of gross mortgage advances with a loan-to-value of over 90% dropped by 0.7% in the third quarter to total 2.8%. Meanwhile, the value of loans advanced to first-time buyers crept up both annually and quarterly, to reach £12.7bn in quarter three.
The figures also showed that the mortgages to borrowers with a single income multiple of more than four times income increased by 1% to 10.3% in the third quarter. This follows a decision introduced by the Bank of England last year which saw it limit the amount of lenders’ mortgage business with loan-to-income (LTI) ratios at or above 4.5, to no more than 15% of an institution’s new mortgage loans.
