NatWest has revealed its mortgage lending nearly halved at the start of the year as it retreated from parts of the market when competition among lenders stepped up.
He added: “Because the market was relatively thin, price competition was very high and we took a conscious decision at that point to not compete across all segments during the latter part of the third and fourth quarter.He said that explains the year-on-year decline in lending, but added that mortgage applications had since increased by about 25% and the lender has grown its share of the market to more than 12%.
It also assured that the level of borrowers defaulting on loans remained low, despite the cost-of-living squeeze.