Mortgage arrears have reached their highest level in more than seven years as interest rates take a heavy toll on household finances.
The total value of home loan balances with arrears climbed by 44.5 per cent year-on-year to £21.3 billion in the three months to the end of March, according to figures from the Bank of England.
This took the overall proportion of mortgage balances that are behind on payments to 1.28 per cent, up from 1.23 per cent in the previous quarter and the highest level since the final three months of 2016.
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While arrears as a percentage of total balances remain well below the 3.64 per cent recorded in early 2009