HSBC named most competitive mortgage lender

Wednesday, 29 October 2008 08:02

HSBC has been the most competitive mortgage lender over the third quarter of 2008.

Analysis by online mortgage firm mform.co.uk - scoring lenders on the number of times product hits mortgage best buy tables - reveals HSBC topped all lenders with 42 points ahead of Yorkshire Building Society (32) and Nationwide (17).

The top five was completed by Newcastle Building Society (14) and Halifax (13).

However over October alone, Lloyds TSB's lending arm Cheltenham & Gloucester is the more consistently competitive - from being ninth over the preceding three months.

Francis Ghiloni, at mform, 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 the market share of HSBC at the end of the year."

He added that despite reports of mortgage lenders extending their margins and borrowing getting tough, it was still possible to source good deals.

"But borrowers need to understand that the rapid changes in the market make it essential to regularly monitor competitiveness," he added.

In 2007 the most competitive mortgage lenders - before the credit crunch struck - were Furness, Skipton, Britannia, Nottingham and Darlington Building Societies.

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