Lloyds reports £2bn drop in mortgage lending

The bank said the 2011 figure represents a 20% market share and indicates a 2.1% loss in share.

It advanced more than £5.6bn of new lending to first-time buyers in 2011 making its market share of new first-time buyer business approximately 24% by value.

The average indexed loan to value on the mortgage portfolio was 55.9% in 2011 compared with 55.6% the year before.

The average LTV for new mortgages and further advances written in 2011 was 62.1% compared with 60.9% for 2010.

The proportion of loans with an LTV in excess of 100% declined from 13.2% at £44.9bn in 2010 down to 12.0% at £39.7bn in 2011.

Some 56% of outstanding mortgages on Lloyds’ portfolio are on standard variable rate and the lender said it expected this to remain broadly stable in 2012.

Overall the bank reported a pretax loss of £3.5bn for 2011 after setting aside £3.2bn to cover the claims relating to the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.

On regulatory matters, Lloyds revealed that it had engaged in discussions with the Financial Services Authority in relation to a range of conduct of business matters including interest-only mortgages.

It said: “The Group is keen to ensure that any regulatory concerns are understood and addressed. The ultimate impact on the group of these discussions can only be known at the conclusion of such discussions.”

António Horta-Osório, group chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, said: “For our retail customers, the group completed £28bn of new mortgage business in 2011, achieving a market share of approximately 20% of gross new residential mortgage lending.

“We are committed to supporting the UK housing market and first-time buyers in particular. We advanced more than £5.6bn of new lending to first-time buyers in 2011, helping over 52,000 customers own their first homes.

“In total we advanced more than £15.5 billion of new mortgages to over 124,000 customers buying their home in the UK in 2011. Our Halifax brand is a leading lender in the affordable housing sector, with a dedicated product range designed for borrowers seeking shared equity or shared ownership schemes.”