Tesco delays entry into UK mortgage market

Tesco, the leading UK supermarket group, has confirmed plans to enter the UK mortgage market in the first quarter of 2011 have now been delayed until the summer of 2011. It seems that a number of regulatory issues and the company's inability to put together a transparent and user-friendly mortgage operation have forced the slight delay. The company is adamant that the new service will be more transparent than anything on the market at the moment and more user-friendly. If this is the case, then a wait of just a few months may well be worth the wait for UK house buyers?

Competition in the UK mortgage market continues to build despite the fact that the UK property sector is still under pressure. We have seen some overseas companies attacking the UK market with many trying to take advantage of the disdain between current mortgage lenders in the UK and UK property buyers. Whether the new entrants to the UK mortgage market will be able to loosen their purse strings, at a time when traditional mortgage lenders have tightened their own purse strings, remains to be seen but this could be the difference between a move to a new era, or a return to the old era.