Top mortgage lenders:
1. Lloyds Banking Group
2. Santander
3. Nationwide BS
3. Barclays
5. Royal Bank of Scotland
6. HSBC
7. Northern Rock plc
8. Yorkshire BS
9. Coventry BS
10. ING Direct
11. Clydesdale Bank
12. Co-operative Banking Group
13. Skipton BS
14. Leeds BS
15. Principality
15. Bank of Ireland
17. UBS
17. Nottingham BS
17. Aldermore Mortgages
20. Aviva Equity Release
The data shows an expansion of lending activity by those lenders in the tier just below the largest six firms. The next five largest lenders on the list saw their market share increase from 9.9% in 2010 to 13.2% last year. In absolute terms, the amount they advanced increased to £18.7 billion from £13.3 billion in the preceding year.
The figures also show a pattern of increased market share in 2011 for larger mutual lenders. The Nationwide, Yorkshire, Coventry, Skipton and Leeds building societies all increased their market, as, among the banks, did HSBC, Barclays and some of the medium sized firms (Northern Rock and Clydesdale). Among this group, ING Direct has been, by some distance, the fastest-growing lender in relative terms over the last two years. Now ranked the 10th largest lender, ING Direct advanced mortgages worth £3 billion last year, compared with £1.1 billion in 2010 and £0.1 billion in 2009.
As in previous years, the lending totals in the tables are rounded to the nearest £100 million. Below the largest 20 lenders, this rounding effect produces a significant clustering of firms, with nominal lending totals of either £0.2 billion or £0.1 billion (this year’s list would have contained more than 20 lenders with these rounded totals). Last year’s list of the largest 30 lenders was beset by similar problems so, instead of producing another table with the bottom tier dominated by a large number of lenders reporting rounded lending totals that are neither particularly robust nor meaningful, it was decided to limit this year’s list to the 20 largest lenders.
