"The contribution that our Society continues to make in support of the housing market and by offering long term value to savers, even in the current low interest rate environment, is evident in our trading results"
Net lending rose by 67% to £3.5bn. Gross and net mortgage lending included buy-to let-lending of £1.7bn and £0.9bn respectively.
Nationwide said that "an expected contraction in the BTL market, combined with our underwriting changes, is likely to lead to lower levels of BTL new lending for the remainder of the year".
The Building Society's underlying profit before tax for the quarter was down 6% at £368m, which it attributed to a reduction in net interest income, growth in underlying costs and a modest increase in impairment provisions. This has been partially offset by a gain of £100m from the disposal of the Group’s investment in Visa Europe during the period.
Statutory profit before tax was up 6% at £401m, including £31m of derivative and hedge accounting gains which are excluded from underlying profit.
Joe Garner, Nationwide Chief Executive, said: “The contribution that our Society continues to make in support of the housing market and by offering long term value to savers, even in the current low interest rate environment, is evident in our trading results for the first quarter which represent a strong start to the year.
“Following the decision by the Bank of England to cut the Bank Rate to 0.25%, the Society will pass on the decrease in full to existing Base Mortgage Rate, Standard Mortgage Rate and tracker mortgage customers. In addition we will protect members who save regularly and who are building up a deposit to buy their first home; as a result, the Flexclusive Regular Saver at 5%, the FlexOne Regular Saver at 3.5% and the Help to Buy ISA at 2% are being maintained at their current rates.
“Looking forward, we remain focused entirely on the needs of our members, particularly during times of uncertainty. It is for this reason that we announced at our AGM last month our five-point plan for how we will support our borrowers and savers post Brexit and help them realise their ambitions. This includes a number of commitments to help people onto the housing ladder, or to move up through the housing market, while supporting those who want to save and plan for the future.”
