Halifax new mortgage borrowers halved

Halifax Bank of Scotland, the UK’s largest mortgage provider, has been forced to launch new products in an effort to regain customers after it revealed that it’s share of new mortgage customers halved.

Halifax, which now plans to re-price its mortgages every three or four weeks, yesterday announced that its share of the new mortgage market had dropped to eight per cent.

The lender, accustomed to 21 per cent of borrowers having an account with it, announced the changes to combat the loss of customers that sees it attracting its lowest level of new business in seven years.

Acknowledging the drop, the bank admitted that a strategy to both retain existing customers and attract new ones had "not delivered the anticipated benefits"; the bank said it had taken "corrective action" which it hopes will lure 15 to 20 per cent of new mortgage borrowers.

One of the new loans on offer is a two-year fixed-rate mortgage which at 4.99 per cent is below the base rate and is available to remortgaging customers.