The list, ranked according to gross lending in the calendar year, saw Lloyds retain poll position with a market share of 19.8% in 2014, totalling £40.3bn in lending. However, its market share has dropped from 2013 when the bank accounted for 20% of gross mortgage lending.
Both Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have pushed their way up the list, with Santander overtaking Nationwide to grab second position and RBS moving ahead of HSBC to fifth place.
Buy-to-let lender Paragon Mortgages, which was the only lender to have its figures recorded according to its financial year from September 2013 to September 2014, entered the table at 20th position, up from 21st place in 2013 with lending now accounting for 0.3% of the market.
Lending at Santander was up 50% in 2014, bringing its total to £27.5bn. Overall, the six largest lenders saw activity growth of 17%, but those ranked seventh to 20th saw stronger growth of 46%.
In 2014, the top six players in the market accounted for 72% of activity, up slightly from 71% in 2013.
The CML said lending in 2014 continued to be boosted by government home buyer initiatives, such as Help to Buy, and record low interest rates. There were opportunities for lenders in all sectors, the CML said, as 2014 saw growth in lending to both home buyers and buy-to-let investors.
Despite these movers and shakers, the scale of changes within the list of mortgage balances outstanding was much less pronounced, the CML said. Despite gross lending in 2014 up 14% for all lenders, the CML said a lack of real movement was expected, as changes in activity for an individual lender in any one year has less of an impact on the firm’s outstanding stock of loans.
The trade body said it expected stable growth for gross lending from its total of £203bn in 2014.
“Our forecasts show a stable path for gross lending, which is expected to rise modestly to £209bn this year before accelerating a little to £230bn next year. A number of lenders’ interim results so far suggest that next year we are likely to be reporting a similar picture of lender growth and competition when we publish a complete list of the largest lenders for 2015.”
The full list of top 20 mortgage lenders for 2014 can be viewed at the CML’s website.
