According to recent figures, British homeowners have repaid a record amount on their mortgage loans during the first quarter of 2009. The Bank of England estimated that some £8.1 billion has been repaid.
Falling house prices and stricter mortgage lending criteria stopped top-up borrowing on mortgage loans . The days of borrowing against rising property value ended abruptly, despite the £300 billion extra borrowers had taken out against the value of their homes.
The Bank of England highlighted the trend to avoid mortgage equity withdrawal whilst expanding equity held by homeowners. Lenders now requite larger deposits when lending, meaning many borrowers have had to boost their equity to be on safe ground.
Now, the number of mortgage loans with 90% loan to values are actually increasing. However, they still make up just 7.5% of available mortgage loans .
