Lloyds Banking Group retained its top spot as the UK’s largest mortgage lender in the latest UK Finance rankings, as home loan finance looks set to grow over the year ahead.
The group, which owns Halifax, saw its gross lending jump by 28% to £47bn last year, lifting its market share to 19.4% in 2024 from 16.3% the previous year.
Nationwide took second spot, moving up one place to overtake NatWest.
The mutual, which completed its £2.3bn purchase of Virgin Money in September, posted annual gross lending up 70% to £41.8bn, improving its market share to 17.3% from 10.9%.
NatWest fell one place to third, with gross lending falling 10% to £27bn, and market share dipping to 11.2% in 2024 from 13.3% the previous year.
The rankings come at the end of a significant couple of weeks for the sector, with regulators easing a number of restrictions on mortgage lending in line with the government’s growth agenda.
Perhaps the most significant of which is that large institutions will be allowed to underwrite more high loan-to-value lending, which was granted by the Financial Policy Committee last week.
Nationwide has said this move will allow it to write around 10,000 more first-time buyer loans over the coming year, while Lloyds Banking Group announced it would set aside an extra £4bn for high loan-to-income lending.
Further announcements from major firms are expected on this riskier area of lending.
The Financial Conduct Authority is carrying out a review of home loan rules, which may allow prospective buyers’ record of paying rent on time to show they can afford mortgage payments, which would further boost FTB loans. This report is expected in the autumn.
Earlier this week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the measures already announced by regulators should lift FTB loans by 36,000 over the coming year.
Buy to let
In the landlord sector, Nationwide kept top spot with annual lending more than doubling to £6.78bn, with its market share jumping 20% in 2024 from 10.6% the year before.
Lloyds Banking Group lifted one place to number two, with lending also more than doubling to £5bn, as its market share rose to 14.8% last year from 7.6%.
NatWest fell one spot to joint third, with lending tumbling 31% to £1.8bn, as its market share fell to 5.3% from 8.7% over 12 months.
Specialist Onesavings Bank — which includes Precise, Kent Reliance and Interbay — was also joint third, with lending falling 18% to £1.8bn, its market share fell to 5.3% from 7.6% over the period.
UK Finance top ten rankings of gross residential mortgage lenders are:
|
|
Rank |
Lending (£bn) |
Market share |
Rank |
Lending (£bn) |
Market share |
|
Lender |
(2024) |
(2024) |
(2024) |
(2023) |
(2023) |
(2023) |
|
Lloyds Banking Group |
1 |
47.0 |
19.4% |
1 |
36.8 |
16.3% |
|
Nationwide BS |
2 |
41.8 |
17.3% |
3 |
24.6 |
10.9% |
|
NatWest Group |
3 |
27.0 |
11.2% |
2 |
29.9 |
13.3% |
|
Barclays |
4 |
22.1 |
9.1% |
5 |
21.1 |
9.4% |
|
HSBC Bank |
5 |
19.8 |
8.2% |
4 |
23.4 |
10.4% |
|
Santander UK |
6 |
15.8 |
6.5% |
6 |
12.9 |
5.7% |
|
Yorkshire BS |
7 |
9.3 |
3.8% |
7 |
8.7 |
3.9% |
|
Coventry BS |
8 |
7.1 |
2.9% |
8 |
8.3 |
3.7% |
|
Skipton BS |
9 |
6.0 |
2.5% |
10 |
6.4 |
2.8% |
|
Leeds BS |
10 |
5.5 |
2.3% |
11 |
4.3 |
1.9% |
| Rank | Lending (£bn) | Market share | Rank | Lending (£bn) | Market share | ||
| Lender | (2024) | (2024) | (2024) | (2023) | (2023) | (2023) | |
| Nationwide BS | 1 | 6.78 | 20.0% | 1 | 3.13 | 10.6% | |
| Lloyds Banking Group | 2 | 5.02 | 14.8% | 3 | 2.33 | 7.9% | |
| NatWest Group | 3 | 1.79 | 5.3% | 2 | 2.57 | 8.7% | |
| OneSavings Bank Plc | 3 | 1.79 | 5.3% | 4 | 2.24 | 7.6% | |
| Coventry BS | 5 | 1.59 | 4.7% | 8 | 1.54 | 5.2% | |
| Paragon Banking Group | 6 | 1.58 | 4.7% | 6 | 1.63 | 5.5% | |
| Shawbrook Group | 7 | 1.51 | 4.4% | 5 | 1.96 | 6.6% | |
| Yorkshire BS | 8 | 1.44 | 4.2% | 6 | 1.63 | 5.5% | |
| Aldermore Bank | 9 | 1.35 | 4.0% | 13 | 0.74 | 2.5% | |
| HSBC Bank | 10 | 0.92 | 2.7% | 14 | 0.71 | 2.4% |
