HSBC says 15 bln stg on offer for UK homeowners

LONDON Jan 19 (Reuters) - HSBC said it will make 15 billion pounds ($23.1 billion) available for UK homeowners to borrow this year, potentially providing 150,000 mortgages and likely to increase its share of business in a shrinking market.

HSBC said its planned lending includes 3 billion pounds for first-time buyers, potentially for about 27,000 borrowers.

With the UK mortgage market expected to shrink this year, HSBC said its lending could give it a market share of more than 11 percent of new business. The bank's share of the UK mortgage market is about 5 percent, but it said it provided about 11 percent of new mortgage lending in the first half of last year.($1 = 0.6490 British pounds) (Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)