Santander’s UK arm warned today not to expect any quick revival in the housing market with the impact of higher mortgage rates yet to be felt fully.
The Spanish-owned bank is one of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders and said though stable overall, there had been a slight rise in arrears in mortgages, unsecured personal loans and overdrafts.
Applications have also dropped following the spike in mortgage rates, which are linked to the underlying level of UK interest rates.
House prices are expected to fall by 7% this year and 2% in 2024, the bank said.
Santander’s profits rose by 16% to £1.73 billion in the nine months to end September 2023, with net interest income up by 8% to £3.56 billion.
Along with the other major high street banks, Santander has been accused of raising lending rates swiftly when the central bank interest rate goes up, but moving more slowly when it comes to savings rates, boosting margins.
Santander said that its net interest margin was likely to peak in 2023.
Net mortgage lending over the nine months dropped by £10.1 billion.
Mike Regnier, chief executive, said: “We have delivered a good set of results in spite of a challenging macroeconomic environment.”
Banco Santander (LSE:BNC), the Spanish parent company, reported third-quarter profits of €2.9 billion, which was better than expected, said analysts at Bank of America.