UK Mortgage Default Rates Rise In Q4

(RTTNews) - The UK mortgage default rates increased in the fourth quarter but default rates on loans to corporate remained unchanged, the Credit Conditions Survey, published by the Bank of England showed on Thursday.

Lenders reported a slight increase in default rates on secured loans to households in the fourth quarter. But rates were expected to be unchanged in the first quarter.

On the other hand, default rates for unsecured lending decreased in the fourth quarter but were expected to rise in the coming period.

On loans to corporates, default rates were unchanged for all business sizes in the fourth quarter and were forecast to be unchanged across business sizes in the first quarter.

Regarding the availability of secured credit to households, the survey showed that it increased in the three months to end November and it is expected to rise over the next three months.

Overall availability of credit to the corporate sector moved up slightly and it was expected to rise next quarter.

The survey showed that demand for secured lending for house purchase increased in the fourth quarter, but it was forecast to fall in the coming period.

Lenders reported that demand for corporate lending from small businesses rose while demand from medium-sized and large businesses grew slightly over the last quarter.

Nonetheless, demand for corporate lending was expected to be unchanged for small, medium, and large businesses in the first quarter. The survey was conducted between November 18 and December 6.