HSBC said this increase in lending equated to an 11% market share of new UK residential mortgage lending. Its market share has grown from 2.5% in 2007, with the bank accepting around nine out of every ten mortgage applicants. First-time buyers accounted for 28% of all HSBC borrowing in the last six months.
The announcement has come as the bank reported pre-tax profits for the first half of the year of £7bn up 3% from the same period a year earlier.
Despite the rise in profits, the bank has said it will cut 25,000 jobs by 2013 and exit operations in 20 countries however said it did not expect any of the new job cuts to fall in the UK.
Joe Garner, head of HSBC UK retail banking, said: “Despite the ongoing challenging UK economic conditions, in the first half of 2011 HSBC used its unique international strength to pump over £30 billion into the British economy.
“As well as lending record amounts to UK homeowners, we are also helping nearly 44,000 UK business customers trade internationally. We continue to punch well above our weight in most markets and we remain fully committed to helping the UK economy continue to recover.”
