Jatin Patel (pictured), co-head of retail banking at Barclays UK, said: “Within that, our focus within mortgages is to make homeownership more affordable for thousands of customers, as many as we can, but also to help build financial confidence.
“It’s not just about making sure we sell a mortgage to support that housing transaction, but we want to support our customers over the long term.”
Regarding its financial performance in 2025, Barclays saw five consecutive quarters of balance sheet growth for mortgages up until the end of Q3 and lent over £25bn.
He noted that Q1 was particularly strong, with 14,000 completions in March alone, which is the “strongest we’ve done for about four or five years”.
Patel added that around 24% of lending had been done in the high-loan-to-value (LTV) space, supporting first-time buyers.
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“To continue with that momentum, we’ve got massive plans for mortgages this year. We really want to support homebuyers and homeowners in the market, and work with brokers to achieve that,” he said.
Barclays conscious it is ‘becoming increasingly difficult’ to get on property ladder
Patel said “buying a home is one of the most financially important decisions a customer can make”, but it is also an “important life moment for them”.
“We’re really conscious about that when we think about… when we do go to market to help our customers on that home buying and homeownership journey,” he said.
Patel said Barclays was “very conscious” that from an economics perspective, it was “becoming increasingly difficult” to get on the housing ladder.
He said its own data shows that the average homebuyer age has gone from 31 to 34 over the past few years.
Barclays’ Property Insights data also shows that when customers were asked about their views on homeownership, renters especially said saving for a deposit was difficult.
Their latest figures show that over a fifth of first-time buyers bought homes with a deposit under £20,000 in December, showing that first-time buyers are more likely to have lower deposits and leverage higher-LTV deals.
Patel said: “In 2025, we have really been focused on making sure mortgages are more affordable for our customers. In Q1 last year, we were the first lender to go below 4% after the peak in rates that we saw following the mini Budget, and we made 24 different pricing reductions last year, so once every two weeks.
“But we know it’s not just about rates, it’s about what we do to help support customers in getting onto the property ladder.”
One of the key areas Barclays is focused on is to help customers who are struggling with the deposit.
Patel said it had launched the ability for customers under the Right to Buy scheme to effectively purchase a property with zero deposit.
The bank has also increased the maximum purchase price for high LTVs, so above 85% LTV, borrowers can access up to £640,000 for a house and £310,000 on a flat.
Changes in affordability and stress testing also mean that an average family could borrow around £31,000 more.
Bank of Mum and Dad focus for Barclays
Patel said Barclays has also “been quite focused on this concept of Bank of Mum and Dad and how we can help”.
“An insight we saw last year was the increasing nature of help from family members to help with purchasing a property, not just the first property, but also the second property as well,” he noted.
He pointed to its Mortgage Boost product, which allows friends and family’s income to boost affordability, but they don’t have to contribute to the deposit, adding that this accounts for around 5% of Barclays’ mortgage lending.
There are also other products, like shared ownership and Springboard mortgages, where parents or family members can help with deposits.
Patel noted having a “real focus on helping first-time buyers and helping with deposits” and responding to trends of parental and family support, and that had “really resonated in the market” and had been “hugely successful for us”.
