Santander UK saw gross mortgage lending jump 43% to £10.6bn in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period a year ago. 

It said the profile of its borrowers in the period was 41% homemovers, 28% remortgagers, 22% first-time buyers and 9% landlords. 

The average loan size of new business was £250,000, from £246,000 at the end of December. 

However, its loan book was flat at £167.2bn at the end of June from the end of December. 

The lender added: “We continue to anticipate a gradual return to net lending growth in 2025, with a good mortgage pipeline heading into the second half of 2025.” 

It said the percentage of home loans in arrears for longer than 90 days was 0.74% from 0.80% at the end of December. 

Earlier this month, the UK lender’s Spanish parent Banco Santander agreed to buy TSB from Banco Sabadell for £2.65bn in a deal that will make the UK business the fourth-largest mortgage lender in the UK.   

TSB has a £34bn mortgages book, which represents a 2% UK market share. 

Overall, Santander UK pre-tax profit fell 5% to £764m, driven by higher transformation charges, including £42m of charges relating to changes to its branch network and cutting staff by 2,000. 

Santander UK chief executive Mike Regnier said: “Banco Santander’s recent agreement to acquire 100% of TSB from Sabadell accelerates our transformation, allowing us to enhance our customer proposition and invest more in innovative products and our digital offering.”