UK Financial Conduct Authority Publishes Mortgage Charter Uptake Data

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a new webpage on Mortgage Charter Uptake data. The webpage sets out the latest uptake data from firms who have signed the Government's Mortgage Charter. The Charter was introduced in June 2023 and contains commitments, over and above FCA requirements, made by mortgage lenders. There are 49 signatories, representing around 90% of the mortgage market. Key findings from the data include: (i) data suggesting that a minimum of around 1.1 million mortgages benefited from one or more of the options set out in the Charter, whether explicitly or through a business-as-usual channel; (ii) around 113,000 mortgages have temporarily reduced monthly payments via the new FCA rules; (iii) between July 2023 and April 2024, the monthly payments on around 159,000 mortgages were reduced as people switched to temporarily paying interest-only or extended their mortgage term; and (iv) 91 properties were repossessed within 12 months of missing the first payment; however, firms reported that these were for customer-driven reasons, for example, voluntary possessions or abandoned/vacant properties.

While it continues to ask firms to report on Charter uptake, the FCA plans to continue publishing the data quarterly. The FCA will continue to closely monitor the mortgage market, including through market and consumer level data and firm engagement, using the data on the uptake of the Charter to understand how it has been used and inform its policy and supervisory approach.

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