Latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show a fall in the first quarter of this year in the number and the proportion of mortgages in arrears or ending in repossession. A decline was experienced in all arrears bands, and across both owner-occupier and buy-to-let lending.

The total proportion of all mortgages with arrears equivalent to more than 2.5% of the mortgage balance was 1.03% at the end of the first quarter. This was down from 1.05% in the fourth quarter of 2014, and well down on the 1.24% recorded at the same time last year.

In numerical terms, there were 113,900 loans in arrears. Of these, just 24,400 were in the most severe arrears band (more than 10% of balance), equating to 0.22% of all mortgages. This is the smallest number and proportion of mortgages in the most serious arrears band since the end of 2008.

The proportion of mortgages resulting in repossession in the first quarter was 0.03%, down from 0.04% in the fourth quarter of 2014 and 0.06% in the first quarter of last year. The number of repossessions was 3,100 (down from 4,200 in the fourth quarter of last year, and 6,400 in the first quarter of 2014).