Lenders publish loan data in transparency drive

Residential loans from Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, RBS, Santander, Clydesdale & Yorkshire Banks and Nationwide Building Society were included in the joint exercise, representing 73 per cent of the total mortgage market and 9,030 sector postcodes.

Total lending increases to more than £1,000bn, when taking into account loans to small and medium-sized businesses and unsecured loans to personal customers.

The data-gathering exercise was part of a voluntary drive for more transparency by the CML, BBA and the seven major lenders, according CML director general Paul Smee.

The value of mortgages outstanding in London numbered £227.3bn, easily dwarfing all other regions in Great Britain. The region with the fewest outstanding loans was north-east England at £25.9bn.

Mr Smee said: “Strong levels of mortgage lending are broadly correlated with those areas where there is a strong resident population.

“While the dataset covers only three quarters of the mortgage lending market, it certainly shows that there are reassuringly few surprises in the postcode distribution of mortgage lending.”

South-west London had the highest number of outstanding mortgages in the capital at £29.2bn, while the West End, which is associated with the retail sector, had the lowest number of outstanding loans, at £553m.

Source: CML/BBA

BBA Chief Executive Anthony Browne said: “The publication of this data is a move that makes the British financial services industry significantly more transparent.”