The UK mortgage market showed mixed momentum in the first quarter of 2026. The total value of outstanding residential loans continued to grow, but the amount of new mortgage lending actually advanced to borrowers declined.

At the same time, lenders recorded a strong increase in newly agreed mortgage commitments that are expected to turn into future lending.

By the end of January–March, the outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans had reached £1.7461 trillion. That was 0.7% higher than in the previous quarter and 2.6% above the level recorded a year earlier.

Gross Lending Declined

The most noticeable fall came in gross mortgage advances. Lenders provided £69.6 billion in mortgage funds during the first quarter. That represented a 12.3% decline compared with the previous three months. The annual comparison was also weaker. Gross advances were 10.2% lower than in the first quarter of 2025.

This suggests that actual mortgage activity remained relatively subdued at the beginning of the year, even as the overall stock of residential mortgage debt continued to expand.

New Commitments Increased

New mortgage commitments moved in the opposite direction.

Their value increased by 11.5% compared with the previous quarter, reaching £78.0 billion. Compared with the same period a year earlier, the increase was even stronger at 14.2%. New commitments refer to mortgage loans that have already been agreed but have not yet been advanced to borrowers.

The rise may indicate that activity could strengthen in the following quarters after a weaker start to the year. This creates an interesting contrast within the market: less money was actually advanced during the first three months of 2026, while the value of lending already approved for the future increased considerably.

How the Data Is Collected

Mortgage market figures are collected every quarter through regulatory returns submitted by firms involved in mortgage lending and mortgage administration.

Since the beginning of 2007, around 340 regulated mortgage lenders and administrators have been required to provide regular information about their mortgage activities.

The statistics cover several important areas, including the total value of outstanding residential loans, gross advances by loan-to-value ratio, income multiples and purpose of borrowing, as well as the value of new commitments.

They also include information on the proportion of mortgage loans priced above the Bank Rate. Regular publication of these figures makes it possible to follow both short-term changes and longer-term developments across the UK mortgage market.

The Market Remains Mixed

The first-quarter results show that the mortgage market cannot be described by a single trend.

On one side, the total stock of residential mortgage lending is still increasing gradually. On the other, the amount of new lending actually advanced to borrowers fell sharply during the quarter. At the same time, the rise in agreed mortgage commitments suggests that borrower demand and lender willingness to approve new loans have not disappeared.

If a significant share of these commitments turns into completed lending, mortgage activity could strengthen during the following months.

For now, the market remains in a transitional phase, with growth in the overall mortgage balance existing alongside weaker current lending volumes.\