Mortgaging nears trillion mark

Statistics from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) latest mortgage report show that homeowners paying for their property through mortgages have brought their combined total of debt near to the ten-digit figure.

But despite the increase the report points out that debt servicing is not under threat because of the rise, explaining that behind the increase in mortgage debt is a ten per cent growth in the number of people owning houses in the last two decades, up from 60 per cent to 70 per cent.

“Low interest rates have kept debt service payments manageable for the vast majority of borrowers… although mortgage payments relative to incomes are higher than a few years ago, mortgage arrears and repossessions remain at historically low levels,” the report, by Phoebe Zhang and Bob Pannell, said.

“In the absence of major economic shocks, we expect further strong and sustainable growth in mortgage debt in the foreseeable future.”

Rising house prices have also helped cover the growing mortgage debt, the CML report claimed, referring to the £3.6 trillion worth of unmortgaged property currently controlled by Britain’s homeowners.