Martijn van der Heijden, head of lending at HSBC also reported Q1 had been its strongest quarter of mortgage lending ever, albeit from a low base.
Van der Heijden attributed higher lending partly to the SVR hikes by two other big lenders – Halifax and RBS – which boosted lending 30% on the previous quarter, last night speaking at a media event in London.
The direct-only lender also called the end of non-advised in the Mortgage Market Review a “bit of a shocker.”
“It is such a big change in stance. I think people should be given products they understand in the first place, which is a more granular way to do it,” he said.
For the coming year, van der Heijden said he definitely saw a “glimmer of hope.”