UK Finance has published its annual ranking of the largest mortgage lenders across both the total market and buy-to-let sectors, revealing how lending activity and lender positions shifted throughout 2025. The figures show a strong recovery in gross lending, alongside significant movement among major lenders, specialist providers and challenger brands. Industry reaction from Sesame Bankhall Group and Phoebus Software highlights the changing competitive landscape and what the latest trends mean for brokers and lenders.
Overall market
The UK mortgage market recorded a strong recovery in 2025, with total gross lending reaching £282.1bn, up 20.1% from £234.8bn in 2024.
However, total mortgage balances grew at a slower pace, increasing by 3.3% from £1,609.5bn to £1,662.7bn, highlighting the significant level of activity driven by new lending, refinancing and product switching.
Among the major lenders, Santander recorded the strongest growth in gross lending, increasing by 57.6% from £15.8bn to £24.9bn.
It was followed by Barclays, which grew gross lending by 41.6%, NatWest by 30%, HSBC by 27.3% and Nationwide by 18.2%. Lloyds recorded the slowest growth among the big six at 11.1%, but continues to hold the largest share of both gross lending and outstanding balances.
The lender rankings also shifted during the year, with Barclays overtaking Santander in terms of balances outstanding. The two lenders are now tied in fourth place with £167.1bn each, having switched positions from 2024.
The market also saw notable movements among specialist and challenger lenders. Topaz Finance increased its balances by 26.1%, moving from 15th to 13th place, while Pure Retirement grew by 22.4% and climbed from 27th to 21st. MPowered Mortgages also recorded strong growth, increasing balances by 33.3% and moving from 50th to 43rd place.
Buy-to-let
The buy-to-let sector saw even stronger growth, with gross lending increasing by 22.6% from £32.8bn to £40.2bn. Santander was the standout performer, with buy-to-let gross lending increasing by 196.5%, rising from £570m to £1.69bn and moving from 14th to sixth place.
NatWest and HSBC also recorded significant growth in buy-to-let lending, increasing by 65.9% and 59.8% respectively.
Specialist lenders also continued to gain ground in buy-to-let. Kensington Mortgage Company increased its buy-to-let balances by 61.6%, moving from 28th to 21st place.
Meanwhile, Barclays saw its buy-to-let balances fall by 10.7%, despite growth in gross lending, suggesting a shift in the balance between new business and legacy lending.
Reaction
“2025 was a strong recovery year for the UK mortgage market with gross lending up 20% on the previous 12 months. However, what’s most striking is how that growth was spread across the market. Santander was the standout gainer, growing its gross lending by nearly 58%, and its buy-to-let lending nearly tripled. From our vantage point across the panel, we can see that lenders are actively vying for share, and brokers are seeing it in the form of more competitive criteria.
The real story for advisers is further down the table – lenders like Vida HomeLoans growing its balance by 29.2% and Kensington growing its buy-to-let balance by 61.6% show real momentum building outside the big six, particularly in specialist and buy-to-let lending. That’s good news for customer choice, but it also means brokers need to work harder to stay on top of a widening panel, which is exactly where a strong network or mortgage club relationship earns its value.”
Alyson Perry, head of strategic partnerships at Sesame Bankhall Group
“Gross lending is up over 20%, but balances outstanding grew just 3.3%, which points to a lot of churn through redemptions and remortgaging. That’s not an operational environment where you can afford to use legacy servicing systems – it’s one where lenders need to process new completions and a wave of redemptions and product transfers accurately, and without dropping the ball on customer experience.
Santander nearly tripling its buy-to-let lending while Barclays’ buy-to-let book shrinks by over 10% whilst overall assets grew to record levels shows how differently major lenders are managing growth versus product diversification and back-book runoff right now. All are legitimate strategies and require robust servicing software to ensure a smooth customer experience.
Overall, the figures reflect what we see from our client base, who are primarily specialist lenders. Our investment in automating specialist servicing to keep operational costs down and allow clients to deal with cases by exception is more relevant than ever, especially in such an uncertain market for the foreseeable future.
Richard Pike, sales and marketing director, at Phoebus Softwar