Mortgage arrears are rising with new Bank of England figures showing missed payments are at a decade high.
The value of mortgages with arrears rose 4.2% in the first three months of 2024 to £21.3 billion compared to the last quarter of 2023.
That represents a 44.5% jump from a year earlier, marking the highest point since July and September 2014.
Even though mortgage defaults remain historically low, the surge highlights the pressure that 16-year-high interest rates have put on homeowners.
Abigail Fernandes at Pepper Advantage, the credit intelligence provider, said: “The state of the housing and mortgage markets is not the same across the whole of the UK, with a disparity between regions.
"We found that the arrears growth rate increased during the first quarter for both the North East and North West regions while it decreased in other areas, including the South East and Greater London."