Blaming the drop on ‘unprecedented market conditions’ officials from the Nationwide Building Society recently reported that the lender suffered a fall of 40% in mortgage lending levels last year. Many lenders, including the Nationwide, were forced to rein in their lending levels last year after the global credit crunch set in, and these tighter credit conditions have contributed to the lower lending levels seen last year by Nationwide.

For the previous financial year Nationwide appears to have enjoyed healthy mortgage lending levels, which amounted to around £11.2 billion, and resulted in the lender taking an eleven percent share of the mortgage market. However, for the financial year leading to 4th April, mortgage lending levels for the Nationwide plummeted to £6.7 billion, and its share of the mortgage market went down to just over seven percent.

Many other lenders have also seen their mortgage lending levels fall, and the Council of Mortgage Lenders has recently stated that mortgage lending levels continue to be subdued. However, April did see a slight rise in overall mortgage lending according to a recent report. An official from the Nationwide said that the effects of the global credit crunch were likely to continue over the course of this year and possibly into next, with house prices also continuing to fall over the course of the year.

He added: “The society is conscious of the difficulties faced by consumers in these disrupted market conditions and we are playing our part to help by continuing to focus on offering mortgages that meet the needs of both existing members and first-time homebuyers.”

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