Mortgage industry in the United Kingdom

The Mortgage industry of the United Kingdom has traditionally been dominated by building societies, but from the 1970s the share of the new mortgage loans market held by building societies has declined substantially. Between 1977 and 1987, the share fell drastically from 96% to 66% while that of banks and other institutions rose from 3% to 36%. There are currently over 200 significant separate financial organizations supplying mortgage loans to house buyers in Britain. The major lenders include building societies, banks, specialized mortgage corporations, insurance companies, and pension funds.

In the UK variable-rate mortgages are more common, unlike the fixed-rate mortgage common in the United States.[1][2] Home ownership rates are comparable to the United States, but overall default rates are lower.[1] Mortgage loan financing relies less on securitized assets and more on deposits, since funds raised by building societies must be at least 50% deposits.[1][2] Prepayment penalties are still common, whilst the United States has discouraged their use.[1] Like Europe and the rest of the world, but unlike most of the United States, mortgages loans are usually not nonrecourse debt, meaning debtors are liable for any loan deficiencies after foreclosure.