Mortgage Lending | RBS

Helping a customer buy and own a home is one of the most significant things we can do for them. Additionally, supporting our customers if they have trouble paying can make a significant difference to their lives.

Mortgage highlights 2019:

Buy a home

• We have helped over 180,000 new customers complete their mortgage application this year, totalling over £31.8billion worth of lending.
• More than 40,000 of these customers were first-time buyers. (*)
• Digital mortgage applications increased by 37% year on year.
• In 2017, we became the first bank in the UK to offer a fully paperless, digitised mortgage journey. More than 90% of our organic customers continue to take advantage of this service.
• We’ve also improved the valuation journey for customers buying a home, with 59% of customers having access to free property advice.

Own a home

• This year 191k of our existing customers coming to the end of their deal have chosen to take a new deal with us.
• 110k of these customers chose to renew their mortgage digitally.
• We have reduced the interest rate we charge for customers renewing their deal.
• As a continuation of previous initiatives, we remain focused on helping vulnerable customers at risk of being financially stretched should their monthly payments rise.  We’ve proactively written to 12,000 customers who:
  • Are on Standard Variable Rate (SVR) and may be financially stretched should there be a base rate increase.
  • Are coming to the end of a fixed term who are at risk of being financially stretched should they roll off to SVR.
  • Have an Offset account and are not using the Offset facility.

Repossessions

Home repossession is always a last resort for RBS, we have a team dedicated to supporting customers in financial difficulty and find the best way to manage this with them. It is our policy to only go ahead with a repossession after all other appropriate options have been explored with the customer.

In 2019, we repossessed 367* properties, compared with 437* in 2018.
 

(*) Limited assurance provided by Ernst & Young LLP.

* total includes both Personal & Business properties.