The year-end figures reveal that:
- Net advances increased by 39% to a record £718 million (March 2003: £515 million).
- Gross mortgage lending reached a record £1.9 billion, up 19% (March 2003: £1.6 billion).
- Total mortgage assets were up 17% to £4.8 billion (March 2003: £4.1 billion).
- Pre-tax profit, at £50.9 million, remained similar to last year (£51.1 million).
- Arrears are at an all-time low of 3.73%*. Out of a total of 48,400 borrowers, only 8 properties are in possession.
- Buy-to-let accounted for 23% of total lending during the year, and it now represents 15% of the total book.
Commenting on the figures, UCB Home Loans managing director, Charles Reed, said: “We had an exceptionally good year and gross advances are now sixteen times higher than the £120 million lent in 1995/96, when Nationwide purchased the company. In the past five years, mortgage assets have increased by £3.1 billion and pre-tax profit has risen by 455%. As expected, profit remains steady as we plough more into improving the competitiveness of the product range and make investments in new systems of regulatory control. The increasing attractiveness of our product range has contributed towards a significant improvement in client retention over the past year, with net advances increasing by over 39% - more than twice the rate of increase in gross lending.
“Our lending to self-employed borrowers and other people on multiple or variable incomes has grown substantially in the nine years since Nationwide purchased the business. There are around 3.2 million people in the UK who class themselves as self-employed, accounting for about 11.5% of the workforce. However, the wider market of contract workers and small business owners – those who may fall into the target area for self-certification mortgages – now stands at 10 million people.”
