This month saw the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) publish their data revealing the biggest mortgage lenders in 2014. Although a long way from the activity levels witnessed in 2007, the figures give an interesting insight as to how the competition has developed during the course of the year.
The top 20 list places Lloyds Banking Group in pole position as the largest UK mortgage lender, retaining 19.8% market share, reaching £40.3bn in lending, up from £35.5bn in 2013. However its market share has dipped from 2013, previously accounting for 20%.
The likes of Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have moved up the rankings, with Santander overtaking Nationwide to take second spot and RBS jumping ahead of HSBC to grab fifth position.
Lending at Santander grew by as much as 50% in 2014, increasing its total to £27.5bn. As a whole, the sixth largest lenders accounted for approximately 72% of all activity, which represented little change in comparison to 2013’s figures.
The following chart details the largest mortgage lenders and their rankings in 2014.
Largest mortgage lenders by gross lending
| Rank 2014 | Rank 2013 | Name of group | 2014 £bn | 2014 Estimated market share | 2013 £bn | 2013 Estimated market share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (1) | Lloyds Banking Group | 40.3 | 19.8% | 35.5 | 20.0% |
| 2 | (3) | Santander | 27.5 | 13.5% | 18.3 | 10.3% |
| 3 | (2) | Nationwide Building Society | 26.9 | 13.2% | 26.9 | 15.1% |
| 4 | (4) | Barclays | 20.3 | 10.0% | 16.9 | 9.5% |
| 5 | (6) | The Royal Bank of Scotland | 19.7 | 9.7% | 14.3 | 8.0% |
| 6 | (5) | HSBC Bank | 12.6 | 6.2% | 14.5 | 8.2% |
| 7 | (7) | Yorkshire Building Society | 7.6 | 3.7% | 6.8 | 3.8% |
| 8 | (8) | Coventry Building Society | 7.4 | 3.6% | 5.9 | 3.3% |
| 9 | (9) | Virgin Money | 5.8 | 2.9% | 5.6 | 3.2% |
| 10 | (10) | Clydesdale Bank | 5.0 | 2.5% | 3.1 | 1.7% |
| 11 | (11) | Skipton Building Society | 2.8 | 1.4% | 2.3 | 1.3% |
| 12 | (12) | Leeds Building Society | 2.7 | 1.3% | 2.2 | 1.2% |
| 13 | (16) | Bank of Ireland | 1.8 | 0.9% | 0.9 | 0.5% |
| 14 | (18) | OneSavings Bank | 1.5 | 0.7% | 0.8 | 0.5% |
| 14 | (14) | TSB Banking Group | 1.5 | 0.7% | 1.4 | 0.8% |
| 16 | (12) | Co-operative Financial Services | 1.2 | 0.6% | 2.2 | 1.2% |
| 16 | (16) | Aldermore Mortgages | 1.2 | 0.6% | 0.9 | 0.5% |
| 18 | (14) | Principality Building Society | 1.0 | 0.5% | 1.4 | 0.8% |
| 19 | (19) | UBS | 0.8 | 0.4% | 0.7 | 0.4% |
| 20 | (19) | Nottingham Building Society | 0.7 | 0.3% | 0.7 | 0.4% |
| 20 | (21) | Paragon Mortgages | 0.7 | 0.3% | 0.4 | 0.2% |
Source: Thedata Ltd