Mortgage arrears data

These figures must be read together, but not conflated. Across the UK, buy-to-let mortgage arrears fell 26% year-on-year and lender possessions fell 20%. In England and Wales, however, landlord possession claims against tenants rose 6%, with accelerated claims up 16%. That does not support a narrative of landlords being forced out by their banks. It suggests more owners are deciding, or finding it necessary, to recover possession even while mortgage distress across the sector is falling.

The timing also matters. This quarter included the final month before the Renters’ Rights Act took effect and the first two months afterwards, so the sharp rise in accelerated claims warrants close scrutiny. Policymakers should remember that tenant security depends not only on stronger rights, but also on retaining enough responsible landlords and homes to rent. If letting becomes commercially unattractive or unnecessarily risky, viable landlords will leave.

The two releases point in the same direction. UK Finance recorded fewer homeowner and buy-to-let mortgages in arrears, while Ministry of Justice figures show mortgage possession claims, orders, warrants and repossessions all falling compared with last year.

They measure different parts of the process and should not be treated as interchangeable, but together they suggest mortgage distress is easing rather than simply being delayed between stages.

There is still a substantial lag. The median time from a mortgage claim to repossession has increased to 49.1 weeks, so completed cases can reflect financial difficulties that began almost a year earlier.

The contrasting figure is landlord possession claims, which rose by 6% even as warrants and repossessions fell. That does not yet establish the effect of recent rental regulation, but it is a separate pressure worth monitoring.

The latest Q2 2026 data brings some genuine relief. Homeowner mortgages in arrears fell 1% to 77,940, while buy-to-let arrears dropped 6% to 8,390. Reassuringly, repossessions also plummeted, down 8% for homeowners (1,150) and 22% for landlords (630).
As a bad credit mortgage specialist, I see this every day where falling behind on your mortgage payments doesn't mean giving up your home. With arrears representing just 0.89% of all mortgages, the market is showing resilience. If you're struggling, specialised options exist to help restructure your debt early and keep you in control.

These numbers are more reassuring than alarming. UK Finance shows homeowner arrears down 1% quarter-on-quarter and buy-to-let arrears down 6%, while possessions fell 8% and 22%. MoJ data shows mortgage claims down 20% year-on-year and repossessions down 14%. That tells me pressure is easing rather than building into a new repossession crisis.

The one number I would not ignore is 49.1 weeks from claim to repossession, up from 42.9 weeks. Repossessions are therefore a very lagging indicator: some households losing homes today may have fallen into trouble nearly a year ago, when rates and affordability looked very different. So today's falling arrears matter more for where we're heading. The data suggests the worst of the mortgage shock is moving behind us, but the clean-up is still working through the system.

The overall direction is encouraging, with fewer mortgages in arrears and possession activity also moving the right way. But falling arrears don’t necessarily mean every borrower has recovered financially. Some will have caught up, while others may have sold or ultimately lost their property, so the figures need to be viewed together.

The contrast with the rental sector is interesting. Buy-to-let mortgage arrears and possessions are falling, yet landlord possession claims have increased. That suggests the pressures facing landlords and tenants extend beyond landlords simply struggling to pay their own mortgages.