Lloyds Loses Mortgage Market Share

Lloyds lost market share in UK mortgages last year as Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and a host of challengers gained, according to new data published Wednesday. Competitors to Lloyds bit off almost 1% of their market share, which fell from 22.1% to 21.2% of mortgage balances outstanding in 2017, the data from industry body UK Finance show, Cityam reported. RBS leapfrogged Barclays to become the fourth biggest lender, after growing mortgage balances by almost 7% to reach £136.3 billion ($177.8 billion). Lloyds enjoys a dominant position in the UK mortgage market, a legacy from its financial crisis-era merger with HBOS, the umbrella company for Halifax and Bank of Scotland. However, the new data, which cover 97% of the UK market, also illustrate the rapid growth of challenger bank and building society competitors to Lloyds and the rest of the “Big Six”. The rate of increase in total lending slowed from 11% in 2016 to 4% year-on-year in 2017, hitting a total of £257 billion.