The Eurozone debt crisis could result in a number of lenders withdrawing or scaling back UK activity, according to Savills.
The agent’s UK head of valuation, William Newsom, said: “The last quarter has seen limited new lending activity with no direct evidence to suggest new trends emerging.
“If this continues, we may find a number of banks withdrawing or downscaling activity, but the only evidence of this at the present time is anecdotal.
He added: “The past three months have been a period of volatility across all financial markets, with a particular focus on the future of the eurozone.”
The dearth of new lending to UK property has left Savills’ 16 most active bigger-ticket lenders. The list is defined by institutions which had each lent at least £75m during the quarter to June, and is unchanged for the first time in a decade.
It comprised Aareal, Aviva, Barclays Bank, Bayern LB, Deka Bank, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Hypo, Deutsche Pfandbrief, Eurohypo, Helaba, ING REF, Landesbank Berlin, Met Life, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Société Générale.
Newsom added that “once the way forward is clearer” he expects some of the 12 eurozone-based lenders to be replaced by UK lenders, despite the Vickers report, and others by insurance companies benefiting from Solvency II.
He added that there are a number of active emerging lenders, such as Handlesbanken. He also said that he is seeing more activity from Clydesdale, Coutts, HSBC and Nationwide Building Society, none of which was listed in the top 16 in June.
He said: “The next six months will be a fascinating period as we see the impact of Basel III, Greece, Vickers and bank deleveraging emerge.”
