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Major NatWest update with customers told 'be warned or be damned'The Treasury has announced the sale of its final shares in the NatWest GroupCommentsNewsChristian Abbott Audience

Writer09:18, 02 Jun 2025NatWest has returned to private ownership(Image: PA) NatWest has returned to private ownership nearly 20 years after the taxpayer bailed it out during the 2008

financial crisis.

Back then, the government announced it would spend £45 billion (£73bn in today's money), buying an £84% stake of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is now part of the NatWest Group.

‌ Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has hailed the sale of NatWest's final shares as it “turns the page on a significant chapter in this country’s history,” but financial analysts are warning more

caution is needed.

‌ Read more: Nationwide customers told June dates to check bank accounts for £100 bonus payments

As for the taxpayers that paid for the bailout, they are £10 billion poorer, as the government only recouped about £35 billion of its costs.

This is largely due to the fact its shares have long languished below the average 502p level paid in the bailout.

Article continues below However, Riz Malik, Director at R3 Wealth, has warned that recent moves in the property market have signalled familiar patterns the UK saw in the build up to 2008.

He said: "Many of us remember not only the 2008 crash but also the warning signs that preceded it.

"While the Chancellor sees the NatWest divestment as the closing of a chapter, we are seeing familiar patterns return in the property market, including an increased lending appetite and the

return of the 100% mortgage.

‌ "Hopefully, this time is different and more safeguards are in place, but caution is still essential. Be warned or be damned."

Bob Singh, Founder at Chess Mortgages added: "With the market gathering pace as confidence continues to grow, lenders need to have a good set of brakes ready to be slammed at the first sign

of the economy overheating.

"A lot has been learnt from the past but prudence is still needed. Banks today are admittedly better capitalised and more able to withstand the shocks that previously brought them to their

knees.

‌ "The emergence of high LTVs and 7x income stretches does raise the prospect of another calamity for some lenders. The Government had no right to force the banks to lend lend lend when the

plan had been to create a stable housing market.

"The end of the Help to Buy scheme is a clear admission of failure by the Government, to provide support for first-time buyers and instead encourage lenders to take on more risk. Maybe it's

time to rip up the rule book and start again."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, said upon the NatWest announcement: “Nearly two decades ago, the then-government stepped in to protect millions of savers and businesses from the consequences of

the collapse of RBS.”

Article continues below “That was the right decision then to secure the economy and NatWest’s return to private ownership turns the page on a significant chapter in this country’s history.

"We protected the economy in a time of crisis nearly 17 years ago, now we are focused on securing Britain’s future in a new era of global change.”