The past few months have been hectic, to say the least, for the UK financial services sector. The credit crunch has led to a number of lenders facing liquidity issues as banks continue to refuse to lend money to each other. Given the current difficult environment lenders are operating in, what are the prospects for the UK mortgage market in the future?

Mortgage lenders advanced a total of £98.7 billion in gross lending in Q3 2007, representing an increase of 6.2% over 2006 levels (the previous highest Q3 lending).

House prices fell in the last few months. Based on the Nationwide House Price Index, house prices fell by 0.8% in November 2007, which brought down annual house price growth to 6.9%.

The quarter of a million mortgage borrowers coming off their two- or three-year short-term fixed rate product over the next few months will face a ‘rate shock’. With lenders currently charging higher interest rates in current market conditions, there is concern that arrears level and repossessions will rise significantly.