Santander has issued a warning to anyone with a mortgage amid fears house prices could tumble back to 2021 levels.
The high street lender is predicting a 10% fall in house prices this year as interest rate hikes knock homebuyer demand. Santander said mortgage borrower arrears remained low so far, but it saw a small number of business customers defaulting in the final months of 2022.
Mike Regnier, chief executive of Santander UK, said there were signs that some borrowers are struggling, even if they are keeping up with their mortgage repayments for now. He said the bank has seen a 12% increase in customers using their overdraft, as well as a 24% jump in customers using buy now, pay later products.
