Santander mortgage lending up 43pc

Santander lent a total of £150.1bn during the course 2014 as it helped some 40,300 first-time buyers (£5.6bn) and 8,100 Help to Buy customers (£1.2bn).

The lender also saw a 26% year-on-year profit boost in 2014 to £1.4bn.

Nathan Bostock, chief executive officer at Santander, said: “I am pleased to report a strong set of results for 2014, with continued improvement in profitability and strong commercial momentum.

“The UK economy improved during 2014 and will, we believe, continue to be supportive of our business in 2015.

“Our purpose is to help people and businesses prosper as we become the best bank in the UK, for our people, customers, shareholders and communities – and a bank that is Simple, Personal and Fair.”

The results also reveal a number of the lenders insights about the year ahead including that it expects the Bank of England base rate will hit 0.75% in 2015.

Additionally it anticipates a further decline in the number of borrowers on standard variable rates, which fell by £8.4bn in 2014, albeit at a slower pace than previously encountered.