Antonio Horta-Osario also said during a call on the bank’s Q1 2012 lending figures it planned to increase its savings market share from 23 to 25% to fully fund its mortgage lending.
A Lloyds spokesperson said: “We’ve maintained a strong presence in the house purchase market and there has been a reduction in the amount of remortgage business. However, our approval rates have remained consistent compared to last year – which is still means around 8 in 10 applications are approved.”
However, the City a.m blog suggested the key reason for the lending reduction is that bank’s cost of funding has leapt and will probably stay high indefinitely.
This is blamed partly on regulator’s attempts to address the “too big to fail” issue alongside regulatory confusion and the fact European lenders are unlikely to get another Central Bank bailout any time soon.
