Data from UK Finance suggests that interest-only mortgage holders are showing no obvious signs of distress despite interest rates remaining high.
There were 664,000 pure interest-only homeowner mortgages outstanding at the end of 2023, 5.4 per cent fewer than in 2022; in addition there were 200,000 partial interest-only (part and part) homeowner mortgages outstanding at the end of 2023, 9.9 per cent fewer than in 2022.
The total interest-only mortgage stock (including part and part) has reduced by 73% in number and 56% in value since 2012 when data was first collected.
Although the overall interest-only stock continues to fall, the number of interest-only loans at higher (over 75%) loan-to-values rose by 2.9% in 2023. However, loans at these higher LTVs now make up just 5% of the total, compared with 36% in 2012.
Additionally, the number of interest-only loans set to mature by 2027 shrank by 74,000 in 2023 to 187,000 loans, a fall of 28.4%.
Commenting on the data, Charles Roe – director of mortgages at UK Finance – says: “Although the mortgage market saw difficult conditions in 2023, most interest-only borrowers continued to repay on or ahead of schedule. The regular communications from lenders will have helped ensure interest-only borrowers remained on track to repay.
“The number of interest-only mortgages has dropped each year since the end of the financial crisis and fell again last year to around a quarter of the number seen in 2012.
“The number of borrowers who didn’t repay when their mortgage ended remained very low and most of these borrowers did repay within a few months of the term ending. If you are struggling with your mortgage repayments, please reach out to your lender as soon as possible. Lenders offer a range of support to anyone worried about their finances, with teams of trained experts ready to help.”
