MARKET SHARE; TOP TEN MORTGAGE LENDERS

The UK’s top 10 mortgage lenders in 2017 were unchanged since 2016 according to new data from UK Finance. Between them they account for over three quarters of total lending across the mortgage market. Gross mortgage lending across the UK was £257 billion in 2017, according to UK Finance, a 4% increase on 2016, the top three lenders, accounting for £103.6 billion, just shy of 40% of the total value lent. Compared to 2016, banks saw a rise of around 2% in lending and Building Societies just over 6%. Specialist lenders and “challenger banks” witnessed the most significant growth, with their lending in 2017 rising by close to 20%. Interest rates have been raised to 0.75%, just the second time they have been raised in over ten years. However with 95% of all mortgages (first-time buyers and remortgages) issued in 2018 on fixed rate deals, the repercussions of the interest rate rise for many households will be minimal.