Mortgage lenders could be forced out of the market as they compete for an ever-shrinking pool of borrowers.
The Financial Conduct Authority has warned that the battle to offer ever-lower rates to a diminishing number of borrowers might lead to the exit of a number of smaller lenders from the market.
In an 86-page report published yesterday it found that there had been a 30% increase in lenders over the past decade, from 128 to 167, but the number of transactions had fallen from 2.3m in 2006 to 1.2m last year.
