Advisers have played a crucial role in helping Nationwide Building Society record strong first-half lending figures, according to Chris Rhodes, the society’s executive retail director.
Mr Rhodes said: “Our strong relationship with intermediaries has played a major role in the society’s record first-half lending figures for 2015/16.
“Brokers account for 70 per cent of everything we do.”
Gross mortgage lending at the society rose by 14 per cent from £13.1bn in H1 2014/15 to £14.9bn in H1 2015/16.
This was a 13.2 per cent share of the market compared with 12.2 per cent a year ago, and maintained Nationwide’s position as the UK’s second-largest lender.
Nationwide’s The Mortgage Works’ first-half gross lending was £2.9bn of this total – an increase of 33 per cent on the previous year.
While all current buy-to-let business is channelled through intermediaries, Mr Rhodes said that, “as a result of demand from members”, BTL would be available though Nationwide branches from early January.
Adviser View:
Daniel Bailey, broker at Derbyshire-based Middleton Finance, said: “The large increase in The Mortgage Work’s business is no surprise as many brokers are finding it is taking so long to get business processed through them at the moment because they are inundated. BTL is a niche market that requires good advice.
“A broker should be able to see prospective BTL borrowers more quickly than a branch, and source the best loans for them.”
