The number of new arrears cases has been on a downward trend for the past six quarters, with a further reduction in the number in Q2 to 37,200 (-8%), according the FSA.

The regulator published its latest mortgage lending data for the United Kingdom covering the period Q2 2010 today.

It said the total number of accounts in arrears has also continued to fall, for the fourth successive quarter, with a decrease of 3% in the latest quarter to 351,000. Consequently, the proportion of the residential loan book that is in arrears, and hence not fully performing, also fell and now stands at 3.11%.
The number of new possessions in the quarter continued to decline, decreasing by 5% to 10,000, the lowest figure for over two years.

The total value of outstanding loans is now £1,209 billion, little changed from last quarter, while new advances in the quarter totalled £36 billion, 14% higher than in Q1, and 8% higher than the amount advanced in Q2 2009. New commitments totalled £41 billion, 20% up on the previous quarter.

The share of lending for house purchase accounted for 61% of new advances and 63% of new commitments in Q2.

The proportion of new lending done at an LTV of more than 90% accounted for just over 2% of new advances. New lending with a combination of high LTVs and high income multiples also rose slightly and accounted for just over 1% of new lending in Q2.

The proportion of loans to borrowers with an impaired credit history has been unchanged for the past year and stands at 0.33%.