Since the launch of the Mortgage Charter, the monthly payments on around 257,000 mortgages - equivalent to 2.9% of regulated mortgage contracts - have been reduced as people switched to temporarily paying interest-only or extended their mortgage term.
This is up from 236,000 mortgages (2.7% of mortgage contracts) in March when the FCA last published its quarterly data.
The Charter, introduced in June 2023, contains commitments, over and above FCA requirements, made by mortgage lenders. There are 49 signatories, representing around 90% of the mortgage market.
These commitments include:
- not to force a borrower to leave their home without their consent, unless in exceptional circumstances, in less than a year from their first missed payment,
- to allow customers to lock in a new deal up to six months ahead of the end of a fixed rate deal, and to request a better like-for-like deal up until the new one starts, if one is available,
- without assessing affordability, to permit customers who are up to date with their payments to switch to interest-only payments for six months, or to extend their mortgage term with the option to revert to their original term within six months.
Key findings
In the latest three month period (February to April 2025) around 341,000 mortgages locked into a new deal up to six months ahead of maturity, compared to around 280,000 mortgages in the previous quarter. In addition, the number of mortgages that, after locking into a new deal up to six months early, subsequently locked into an alternative deal, increased from around 27,000 in the previous quarter to around 52,000 in February to April 2025.
Around 178,000 mortgages have now temporarily reduced monthly payments via the new FCA rules.
Between July 2023 and April 2025, the monthly payments on around 257,000 mortgages were reduced as people switched to temporarily paying interest-only or extended their mortgage term. This is around 2.9% of regulated mortgage contracts. The data shows that only 950 term extensions were reversed, which could indicate that borrowers seeking a temporary reduction in their payments are more likely to opt for an interest-only period.
217 properties were repossessed within 12 months of missing the first payment, up from 186 in the previous three months. Firms report these were for customer-driven reasons, for example voluntary possessions or abandoned/vacant properties.
