Rubbish Check
Daily Mail Money · 8 September 2026 source
“Risky low deposit mortgages hit high not seen since 2008, Bank of England data shows”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates Daily Mail's claim that low-deposit mortgages hit a post-2008 high a 2/10 because the headline lifts its "highest since 2008" framing almost verbatim from the Bank of England's own release, with the underlying 8.4% figure confirmed by the primary data.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. This is close to a base-fact headline: the Bank of England's Q2 2026 Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics literally describe the >90% LTV share as "the highest share since 2008 Q2," so the Mail isn't spinning, it's paraphrasing the regulator. The one iteration of spin is calling it a "high not seen since 2008" without noting that today's 8.4% share is a fraction of the pre-crisis peak, so the 2008 comparison evokes more danger than the numbers alone convey.
What actually happened
The Bank of England's quarterly mortgage lending statistics showed the share of new mortgages with a deposit under 10% (an LTV above 90%) rose over April to June 2026, reaching its highest level since 2008. The rise reflects lenders relaxing high-LTV and high-income-multiple lending to help buyers priced out by years of house-price growth outstripping wages, while mortgage arrears actually fell over the same quarter.
Key facts
- BoE data: the share of gross mortgage advances with LTV over 90% increased by 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter to 8.4%, the highest share since 2008 Q2, and was 1.4pp higher than a year earlier.
- Prior quarter reading was 8.0%; a year earlier the FCA/BoE Q2 2025 release put the comparable share at 7.1% "increased by 0.4pp from the previous quarter to 7.1%, the highest share since 2008 Q2, and was 1.1pp higher than a year earlier" (later revised in the 2026 release cited above).
- Mortgages with LTV over 95% held flat quarter-on-quarter "the share of mortgages advanced with LTVs over 95% has stayed the same as the previous quarter at 0.5%, but remained 0.2pp higher than a year earlier".
- Arrears fell 1.9% over the quarter, per the article, undercutting any implied "riskier borrowers are struggling" narrative.
- Median England house price (£290,000) stood at 7.9 times average disposable income at end-2024, per the article's cited ONS figure, explaining the structural pressure pushing buyers to low-deposit products.
What to watch for
- Watch whether the next quarterly release shows the >90% LTV share breaking through toward pre-2008 peaks (which were far higher) or plateauing, this determines whether "highest since 2008" starts meaning something closer to 2008 levels of risk.
- Watch how the Bank of England's 17 September rate decision affects new high-LTV lending rates, given the article notes rates 2 to 3 percentage points above base rate are also climbing.
- Watch Lloyds' house price index for confirmation of a sustained annual fall, which would raise the negative-equity stakes for this cohort of borrowers.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.