Some of the biggest lenders in the UK are experiencing a decline in mortgage market share, which has increased for several building societies, according to new figures.
However, a report from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed that lending is still “heavily concentrated” among the six biggest lenders – HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Nationwide Building Society, Barclays, Santander and Lloyds Banking Group.
The six lenders advanced mortgages valued at £113.8 billion (S$224 billion) in 2011, up from £110.8 billion (S$218 billion) the year before. Despite the rise, their total market share fell slightly to 80.7 percent from 81.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the building societies of Coventry, Nationwide, Yorkshire, Skipton and Leeds increased their market share, while HSBC was the only major lender to grow its share to 9.4 percent.
Although Lloyds continues to be the largest UK lender, its estimated market share dropped to 19.9 percent last year from 22 percent in 2010.
Moving forward, lending is forecasted to remain tough in 2012 due to continued economic uncertainty.
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