British lenders reported an increase in the number of loan defaults in the three months to February as rising interest rates continued to squeeze borrowers, a Bank of England survey showed on Thursday.
A net 14 per cent of lenders reported that more households and businesses missed repayments on secured loans such as mortgages. The net balance was well above the -1.4 per cent recorded in the previous quarter — the negative value pointed to a decrease in the default rate.
Excluding the onset of the pandemic, the BoE’s credit conditions survey pointed to the highest level of defaults since the financial crisis. The data did not detail the total number of defaults.
