Landlord arrears half that of homeowners

UK homeowners are more than twice as likely as buy-to-let landlords to be in arrears, according to Computershare, a major servicer of mortgages.

Just one in every 166 buy-to-let mortgages (0.6%) is currently in arrears by at least a month compared to one in every 73 residential loans (1.37%), according to new data from the financial services company’s mortgage servicing arm, Computershare Loan Services, which manages over half of all outsourced mortgages in the country.

Computershare Loan Service’s figures also show a significant regional disparity, with Welsh buy-to-let mortgages (1.41% or one in every 71) almost 10 times more likely to be in arrears than those in the East Midlands (0.15% or one in every 667), and residential loans in London (1.96% or one in every 51) in arrears more than twice as often as the South West (0.89% or one in every 112).

Andrew Jones, CEO of Computershare Loan Services, said: “When mortgages fall into arrears, problems can arise for borrowers, lenders and tenants, so loans must be administered in a way that takes into consideration the individual circumstances of every customer.

“Computershare Loan Services continues to lead the way in preventing and reducing arrears by using advanced analytical systems to predict problems and facilitating support for those who need it.

“For over a quarter of a century we’ve done everything we can on behalf of clients to work with borrowers, particularly those significantly behind on their payments, to find a solution that takes into consideration their circumstances.”

Proportion of mortgages in arrears	Buy To Let	Residential
East Midlands	0.15%	1.23%
East Anglia	0.20%	1.36%
South East	0.25%	1.10%
South West	0.28%	0.89%
Yorkshire and Humberside	0.55%	1.27%
West Midlands	0.69%	1.25%
North	0.82%	1.23%
North West	0.91%	1.60%
Greater London	0.94%	1.96%
Scotland	0.95%	1.31%
Wales	1.41%	1.81%
Average for Great Britain	0.6%	1.37%