HSBC ranks as most competitive lender, but moves towards direct selling

However this month has seen Lloyds TSB’s lending arm Cheltenham & Gloucester become more consistently competitive following the Government banking bailout, whilst HBOS-owned Halifax was the second most competitive at the start of the month but has since slipped back.

The rankings for the most consistently competitive lenders in the third quarter of 2008 saw HSBC at number one followed by Yorkshire Building Society at number two with Nationwide, Newcastle Building Society and the Halifax making up the top five.

The online mortgage company monitors best buy products across all product categories based on the true cost of a mortgage including all fees. Each time a lender appears in the top 10 in the six months to June 30 they were awarded a point and at the end of the period the most points signify those lenders consistently offering good value.

HSBC emerged the winner with a total score for the third quarter of 2008 of 42 appearances ahead of Yorkshire with 32 and Nationwide with 17.

mform.co.uk monitors the value offered across the market and publishes quarterly reports outlining the consistently best lenders. In 2007 before the full effects of the credit crunch the five most competitive lenders were Furness, Skipton, Britannia, Nottingham and Darlington Building Societies.

Francis Ghiloni, mform.co.uk Marketing and Business Development Director, said: “HSBC’s financial strength and apparent relative immunity from the ongoing financial crisis has enabled it to stay ahead of rivals as the most consistently competitive.

“It is striking that it has achieved this by going direct to the consumer rather than using brokers and borrowers should take notice that the best deals are now available direct. It will be interesting to see how this is reflected in the market share of HSBC at the end of the year.

“Our analysis is designed to offer the best possible value to customers and is particularly valuable when there is so much uncertainty in the mortgage market.

“It is still possible to source good deals but borrowers need to understand that the rapid changes in the market make it essential to regularly monitor competitiveness.”