Lloyds keeps top spot for resi lending while Santander sees major rise in BTL business – UK Finance

But its market share fell from 19.4% in 2024 to 18% in 2025, despite increasing lending to £52.2bn, according to data from UK Finance.

Nationwide Building Society remained second with £49.4bn of lending, while NatWest Group held third place with £35.1bn. Nationwide’s share edged down from 17.3% to 17%. NatWest, however, increased its share from 11.2% to 12.1%.

Barclays stayed in fourth position after increasing gross lending to £31.3bn from £22.1bn a year earlier, ahead of HSBC at £25.2bn and Santander UK at £24.9bn. Santander UK recorded the largest gain in the top six, increasing its share from 6.5% to 8.6%.

TSB climbed to 10th place from 11th after growing gross lending to £5.7bn, displacing Leeds Building Society, which slipped to 11th with £4.8bn of lending.

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BTL rankings

Nationwide retained its position as the UK’s largest buy-to-let (BTL) lender by gross lending in 2025 after advancing £7.43bn during the year.

However, its market share fell from 20.2% in 2024 to 18.4% in 2025. Lloyds Banking Group remained second with £5.5bn of lending, but its share also declined from 15% to 13.6%.

Coventry Building Society climbed to fourth from fifth after increasing lending to £2.23bn from £1.59bn, and the mutual grew its market share from 4.7% to 5.5%.

OneSavings Bank slipped from third to fifth, with its share falling from 5.3% to 4.3%.

Santander UK was the standout mover in the top 10, jumping to sixth place from 14th after almost tripling lending to £1.69bn from £570m. Its market share more than doubled from 1.7% to 4.2%.

Shawbrook Group retained seventh position with £1.66bn of lending, although its market share eased from 4.5% to 4.1%.

Aldermore Bank climbed to eighth from ninth after increasing lending to £1.57bn from £1.35bn.

Paragon Banking Group fell to ninth from sixth as lending dropped to £1.49bn from £1.58bn and market share declined from 4.7% to 3.7%.

The only lender to fall out of the top 10 was Yorkshire Building Society, which dropped to 11th from eighth after lending declined to £1.2bn from £1.44bn and market share fell from 4.3% to 3%.

HSBC rounded off the top 10, remaining in 10th place but increasing lending to £1.47bn from £920m, boosting its share from 2.7% to 3.6%.

Alyson Perry, head of strategic partnerships at Sesame Bankhall Group, said: “2025 was a strong recovery year for the UK mortgage market with gross lending up 20% on the previous 12 months. However, what’s most striking is how that growth was spread across the market. Santander was the standout gainer, growing its gross lending by nearly 58%, and its buy-to-let lending nearly tripled. From our vantage point across the panel, we can see that lenders are actively vying for share, and brokers are seeing it in the form of more competitive criteria.”

Richard Pike, sales and marketing director, at Phoebus Software, said: ““Santander nearly tripling its buy-to-let lending while Barclays’ buy-to-let book shrinks by over 10% whilst overall assets grew to record levels shows how differently major lenders are managing growth versus product diversification and back-book runoff right now. All are legitimate strategies and require robust servicing software to ensure a smooth customer experience.”