Abbey becomes largest mortgage lender with 35% share

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by Lin Freestone

Partly as a result of the withdrawal of offers from the market by rival lenders, Abbey’s share of new lending rose to 35% in the three months to the end of June.

Although the Halifax is the UK’s largest mortgage lender in terms of gross market share and housing stock, it is now writing only one in five new mortgages. Abbey’s 35% market share involves the writing of one in three of the new mortgages currently being issued.

The value of Abbey’s new mortgage lending has doubled in the six months to the end of June to £8.3bn. Abbey has tightened its lending criteria with virtually no lending being offered to potential buyers without at least a 10% deposit.

Abbey, part of Spanish bank Santander, has stated that it expects its share of new mortgage business to ease back in the second half of the year, as the home loan sector stabilises and other lenders bring products back to the market.

Figures just released by the Bank of England show that only 36,000 new loans were arranged for people moving house during June, 69% fewer than in the same month of 2007 and 12% less than in May.