The 2015 Q3 survey was conducted between 24 August and 11 September 2015.
Supply
- The availability of secured credit to households was reported to have increased in 2015 Q3. Lenders expected availability to increase over Q4. Lenders reported that availability to borrowers with a loan-to-value ratio above 75% increased in Q3 for the second consecutive quarter. But availability to borrowers with a loan-to-value ratio above 90%, and maximum loan-to-value ratios, were reported to be unchanged.
- Lenders reported that the availability of unsecured credit to households was unchanged in 2015 Q3. Within this, however, availability of other unsecured lending products, such as personal loans, appeared to have increased in Q3: credit scoring criteria were reported to have loosened slightly and the proportion of loan applications approved had increased. Despite that apparent easing, the credit quality of new other unsecured lending was reported to have improved.
- The overall availability of credit to the corporate sector was reported to be unchanged in Q3, and this was expected to remain the case in Q4. The availability of credit increased slightly in Q3 for small businesses.
Demand
- Lenders reported that demand for secured lending for house purchase increased significantly in 2015 Q3. Demand increased across all types of secured lending, but was particularly significant for buy-to-let lending. Overall demand was expected to be unchanged in Q4.
- Demand for credit card lending from households increased in 2015 Q3, but was expected to be unchanged in Q4. Demand for other unsecured lending products, such as personal loans, was reported to have increased significantly in Q3, and was expected to increase again in Q4.
- Demand for corporate lending was reported to have increased across all business sizes in Q3. Demand from small and medium-sized companies was expected to increase further in Q4, while demand from large corporates was expected to be unchanged.
Loan pricing
- Overall spreads on secured lending to households — relative to Bank Rate or the appropriate swap rate — were reported to have narrowed significantly in Q3, and were expected to narrow again slightly over the following three months.
- Lenders reported that spreads on credit cards had narrowed in Q3, and lenders also reported an increase in the length of interest free periods for purchases on new credit card lending. Spreads on other unsecured lending products, such as personal loans, were reported to have narrowed significantly in Q3, but were expected to widen slightly in Q4.
- As in previous quarters, spreads on lending to medium and large companies narrowed significantly in 2015 Q3. Spreads on lending to small businesses also narrowed and fees and commissions fell slightly.
Defaults
- Lenders reported that default rates on secured loans to households fell in 2015 Q3, and were expected to fall again in Q4. Losses given default fell significantly in Q3 and were expected to fall further in Q4.
- Default rates and losses given default on credit card lending to households fell in Q3. Default rates on other unsecured lending to households increased in Q3, but losses given default fell slightly.
- Default rates on lending to medium and large companies were unchanged in Q3, but fell on lending to small companies. Losses given default fell in Q3 for businesses of all sizes.
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Results for Annex 1, 2 and 3