Mortgage News
Santander hikes gross mortgage lending by 15%
Santander’s gross mortgage lending in the first nine months of 2013 was 15.2% higher than the same time last year, according to the lender’s Q3 financial results.
The lender advanced £12.9bn in mortgages between January and September, compared to £11.2bn in 2012.
However, the Spanish bank’s overall UK balance decreased, due to its attempts to reduce the number of risky loans on its books, particularly interest-only loans.
Its share of the gross mortgage lending market was 10.4%. This was lower than the 11% it represented for the same period of 2012 but a little higher than the Council of Mortgage Lender’s estimate for 2012 as a whole.
Santander’s UK chief executive Ana Botín said the business was making progress towards their 2015 targets: “We have lent £12.9bn to UK homebuyers so far in 2013 and recently launched our ‘Freedom’ mortgage range, providing customers with greater flexibility and value.
“We expect our mortgage market share to stabilise in the year ahead.”
EPC planning: act now or risk the rush later
Sponsored by BM Solutions
Participation in the government’s Help to Buy scheme will also help Santander’s mortgage balance stabilise, the report said.
The average loan-to-value on Santander’s residential mortgage portfolio was 51%. Roughly 80% of mortgages were classed as prime. The report described its portfolio as “high quality”, with no exposure to self-certified and subprime mortgages. Buy-to-let loans accounted for 1% of customer loans.
Santander’s profit before tax from continuing operations was £891m. This was 14.3% lower than the £1.04bn made in the first nine months of 2012.