Interest-only homeowner mortgages fell by 5.4% to 664,000 last year compared to 12 months before, the latest data from UK Finance reveals.
The latest figures from UK Finance’s interest-only mortgages data for 2023 shows that partial interest-only home loans fell by 9.9% to 200,000 over the same period.
The total interest-only mortgage stock has been slashed by 73% in number and 56% in value since 2012 when the association started collecting data.
Although the overall interest-only stock continues to fall, the number of interest-only loans at higher loan-to-values went up by 2.9% in 2023.
However, loans at these higher LTVs now make up just 5% of the total, compared with 36% in 2012.
Meanwhile, the number of interest-only loans set to mature by 2027 reduced by 28.4% in 2023 to 187,000 loans.
UK Finance director of mortgages Charles Roe states: “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.”
