Overview
Around 340 regulated mortgage lenders and administrators (banks, building societies, credit unions and other specialist lenders) are required to submit a Mortgage Lenders & Administrators Return (MLAR) form each quarter, providing data on their mortgage lending activities and covering both regulated and non-regulated residential lending to individuals. Following the creation of the Bank of England Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2013, these mortgage lending statistics are compiled and published jointly by the two regulators. Lenders with only non-regulated lending are not required to submit the MLAR. Prior to the change in regulation to include second charge lending, which came into effect on 21st March 2016, the reporting population was around 300.
The purpose of the MLAR data return is to provide prudential regulatory and conduct of business mortgage data to the PRA and FCA. It is a distinct data source for statistics on mortgage lending from the Bank of England’s Money and Credit statistical returns, known as Forms BE, IS and ER. As such, it represents an example of an administrative data source used for statistical purposes, as outlined in the Bank's Statistical Code of Practice. There will be some differences in scope, coverage and definitions between these data sources.
These MLAR statistics provide a range of information on mortgage lending, including:
The split between regulated and unregulated mortgages
• Mortgages by product types
• Balances of all outstanding loans;
• New advances and commitments, including by purpose of loans;
• Unsecuritised and securitised loans;
• Interest rates on loans;
• Lending criteria, including loan to value (LTV) and income multiples;
• Lending to those with impaired credit histories; and
• Arrears and possessions.