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While the press were keen to press bosses on whether Santander's £1.2bn bid for A&L would result in redundancies, a reduction in branch numbers and the death of the latter's mortgage range all the board seemed to want to talk about was how this offer represented "certainty" for shareholders.

Some industry experts, keen to look for a silver lining in a market dominated by grey clouds, said the merger of Abbey-owner Santander with another high street name was likely to briefly bring increased confidence to the industry. The UK mortgage market cannot be that bad if the Spanish bank is willing to put its hand in its pocket to buy another lender, was the argument.

Hmmm. What has Santander pulled out of its deep pockets? About £3 for shares that a year ago were worth around £11 and it is believed were previously courted for £13. That doesn't exactly scream confidence to me. It just suggests Santander thinks the time is right to swoop into the UK mortgage market and pick up some bargains. The time and the price is right for bargain hunters to come calling.

Reflecting on the repeated mantra of "certainty for shareholders in an uncertain world", I began to think about what the deal offers Santander and A&L as businesses. What is certain about this deal is Santander's purchase of A&L will ultimately bring about a business that has a 12.7 per cent share of the UK mortgage market. The Spanish bank is picking up a significant chunk of the UK mortgage market at what appears to be a good price.

A lot more uncertainty surrounds what this deal will mean for the future of UK financial services and borrowers. When pushed on what the future held for A&L's mortgage range under Santander, David Bennett, chief executive of Alliance & Leicester, said talks had not taken place yet about what would be on offer when its home loans were in Santander's hands.

Both Abbey and A&L have similar pricing on their mortgage ranges, offering rates at about the same level but the latter utilises a percentage fee structure in its product make up.

A&L has historically had more accommodating criteria with a maximum advance of £1m, compared with Abbey's £550,000, plus their customers benefited from more flexible features such as underpayments and payment holidays.

Historically, mergers in the mortgage market have worked out as more of a takeover of the mortgage book with one company's product range features disappearing altogether without bringing together the best of both product ranges.

It is still too early to call what Santander's purchase will mean. Let us just hope the Santander deal does not create a mortgage market where the many consumers who are already struggling to find someone to provide them with a home loan have even fewer options.

Emma Ann Hughes is editor of Mortgage Adviser