Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society, has upped its mortgage lending to take second place in market share.
Its 15.1% market share puts it one place behind Lloyds and knocks Barclays into third place.
In its last financial year, Nationwide lent £21.5bn, with one in five of its loans going to first-time buyers. Lending to first-time buyers increased by 75% year on year and average LTV rose to 67% from 63% the previous year because of increased activity in this market.
However, its buy-to-let business The Mortgage Works (TMW) lent £3.3bn in the year to April 4, down from £4.4bn the year before. The cut in lending was the result of concentrating on experienced landlords and reducing the proportion of first-time landlords down to 10%. However, its market share in buy-to-let stood at a robust 19.5%.
Nationwide’s total income was £2.52bn (up 18% from £2.14bn in 2012) and underlying profit rose 56% to stand at £475m.
Ben Thompson, MD of Legal & General Mortgage Club, said Nationwide’s results were outstanding. He said: “Nationwide as a group have played a significant role in providing lending almost to all parts of the market.
“They have been highly supportive of first-time buyers and helping consumers to actually achieve their dream of buying their first homes, something that for some remains merely an aspiration. Their presence in this part of the market will have encouraged other lenders to follow and enabled the market to grow from its real low, something that ultimately the economy will benefit from as well.
“It is also worth highlighting how well intermediaries and Nationwide have worked together over the last year. This is great support from Nationwide for intermediaries and vice versa.
“The last five years have been full of disappointments and tensions across the mortgage market, and so results like this are very pleasing to see.”
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