Barclays mortgage lending hits £100bn

As the fastest growing mortgage lender in the UK, mortgage lending at Barclays has hit the milestone of £100bn.

Over the last three years Barclays has lent £55.7bn in new mortgages through its mortgage arm Woolwich and increased overall mortgage lending by 42 per cent compared to an average increase across the industry of 3.5 per cent. In the first half of this year Barclays net lending grew by £4bn in a market where total net lending grew by only £2bn as other lenders have sought to reduce the size of their mortgage commitment.

To cement this milestone today, Barclays reaffirms its ongoing commitment to the UK mortgage market with a cut to lifetime tracker mortgages by up to 0.41 percentage points.

The key reductions are across the 70 and 75 per cent LTV range. On the 70 per cent LTV the rate will fall from base + 2.49 per cent to base + 2.08 per cent (a reduction of 0.41 per centage points) and the 75 per cent LTV will reduce from base + 2.69 per cent to base +2.39 per cent . Equivalent Loyalty tracker rates have also been reduced with a new headline rate of base +1.88 per cent.
 
This milestone follows Barclays issuance of a new covered bond in the US last week. The bond, with a value of $1bn, is the first to be issued in the US under UK regulations and it will provide direct funding for further lending to UK mortgage customers.

Mark Parsons, Managing Director of Retail Assets & Deposits for Barclays, said: "Barclays has remained open for business throughout the testing times of the last few years and that is reflected in these figures. The strength of the growth shows that we remain firmly committed to the UK mortgage market and that we are actively lending more to homeowners and buyers than ever before.

"We've driven this growth by evolving and adapting our mortgage range to ensure we are meeting borrowers' needs and providing long term value. Together with our independence, strong global funding ability and commitment to both the intermediary market and our branch distribution, this has helped to differentiate us and support the UK mortgage market."

Barclays has launched a number of initiatives this year to support homeowners and borrowers:

An innovative deal with Bovis Homes launched in June, enabling Barclays to offer up to 90 per cent loan to value mortgages to borrowers purchasing a new Bovis home.

Switch & Fix re-introduced in July allows customers on a tracker mortgage to switch to any current fixed rate mortgage deal with no early repayment charge.

Loyalty mortgages launched in September offer lower rates to Barclays current account customers.

For more information on Barclays mortgages, visit barclays.co.uk/mortgages.