Fri 23 May 2008
Nationwide lending falls by almost half 2007 levels
Nationwide, the UK’s largest building society, has dropped its mortgage lending by 40%.In the year to April 4, the firm’s net mortgage lending to residential customers had significantly dropped off to £6.7 billion, compared with £11.2 billion in the previous financial year.
As a result, its share of the residential mortgage market fell from 11% to 7.1%.
The society said it had taken a "conservative and sustainable" approach to lending focusing on quality, and in the light of the credit crunch had restricted volumes to match retail deposits.
Total lending by the society, including commercial mortgages and personal loans and credit cards, reached £8.9 billion over the year.
Nationwide said its mortgage arrears were less than a third of the industry average as its focus on lower-risk borrowers paid dividends.
But the group also forecast lower house prices this year and added it was "difficult to predict" how long the tough current market conditions would last.
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