CHL Mortgages has revealed that there have been significant improvements in both early and late arrears on its entire buy-to-let and home-loan mortgage book.

Its figures from December 2009 show that they have seen a -27% decrease in early arrears (less than three months) and a -31% decrease in late arrears (over three months) since their peak of February 2009.

Bob Young, CHL Mortgages managing director , said: “We have even seen a continuation of our arrears numbers continuing to drop over the recent Christmas period which is further good news, particularly at a time when you might expect some borrowers to use their mortgage payment money for other expenses. This appears not to have been the case and, if the economic recovery does not run out of steam, we expect CHL’s overall arrears to reduce by -15-20% in 2010, leaving us in good shape to capitalise on future opportunities.”

CHL predicts that the trend will continue for the foreseeable future with all indicators pointing towards arrears reducing back to 2008 levels over the summer.