HSBC dominates as most competitive mortgage lender

HSBC was the most consistently competitive mortgage lender during 2008 with only Yorkshire Building Society coming anywhere close as a rival, analysis by mform.co.uk reveals.

The bank – which did not take part in the Government banking bail-out – was able to use its financial strength it to dominate throughout the year, the online mortgage company’s rankings show.

However smaller regional building societies such as Newcastle, Furness, Tipton and Mansfield all made it into the top 10 despite the ongoing turmoil in the mortgage market which has forced many lenders to stop chasing new business.

And Lloyds TSB’s lending arm Cheltenham & Gloucester became more consistently competitive following the Government banking bailout while HBOS-owned Halifax, which is soon to be taken over by Lloyds TSB, also made the top 10.

Lloyds TSB itself and Cheltenham & Gloucester were the number one and two most competitive lenders in December with Bank of Ireland at number three and Britannia at number four.

The rankings for the most consistently competitive lenders through 2008 saw HSBC at number one followed by Yorkshire Building Society at number two with Newcastle, Furness and Nationwide making up the top five. Furness was the most competitive lender in 2007 in the mform.co.uk rankings.

The online mortgage company monitors best buy products across all product categories based on the true cost of a mortgage including all fees. Each time a lender appeared in the top 10 during 2008 they were awarded a point and at the end of the period the most points signify those lenders consistently offering good value.

HSBC emerged the winner with a total score for the year of 89 appearances ahead of Yorkshire with 70, Newcastle on 41 and Furness on 40.

mform.co.uk monitors the value offered across the market and publishes quarterly reports outlining the consistently best lenders. In 2007 before the full effects of the credit crunch the five most competitive lenders were Furness, Skipton, Britannia, Nottingham and Darlington Building Societies.

Francis Ghiloni, mform.co.uk Marketing and Business Development Director, said: “HSBC’s financial strength and apparent relative immunity from the ongoing financial crisis has enabled it to stay ahead of rivals as the most consistently competitive.

“It is striking that it has achieved this by going direct to the consumer rather than using brokers and borrowers should take notice that the best deals are now available direct. It will be interesting to see how this is reflected in its market share.

“The rise of Lloyds TSB and C&G in the rankings demonstrates that just possibly the banking bail-out and Government pressure is having a positive effect

“Our analysis is designed to offer the best possible value to customers and is particularly valuable when there is so much uncertainty in the mortgage market.”

The top 10 for the year is outlined below with scores for the number of appearances by a lender in the mform.co.uk tables.

LENDER SCORE
HSBC 89
Yorkshire Building Society 70
Newcastle Building Society 41
Furness 40
Nationwide 35
Co-Operative Bank 33
Halifax 30
Mansfield 30
Tipton 30
C&G 29


* Research sourced on mform.co.uk