Nationwide sees mortgage lending dip after stamp duty rush but market ‘healthy’

Nationwide Building Society has revealed a dip in mortgage lending after homebuyers raced to complete purchases ahead of April’s stamp duty deadline, while income soared following its takeover of Virgin Money.

The building society bought the rival lender last year, becoming the UK’s second largest mortgages and savings provider as a result.

Nationwide revealed net mortgage lending totalled £4.7 billion for the six months to the end of September, down from £6.3 billion last year.

It attributed lower lending to stamp duty changes coming into effect from April, when tax relief became less generous.

This saw a rush of homebuyers hoping to complete their purchase ahead of the deadline, bringing forward transactions that may otherwise have taken place during the second half of the financial year, according to Nationwide.

Nationwide’s finance chief Muir Mathieson said the volume of mortgage applications had nonetheless remained “very healthy” throughout the latest period.

Meanwhile, underlying income for the group soared to £3.1 billion for the half-year, up from £2.1 billion the prior year, which was driven primarily by the integration of Virgin Money’s banking business.

The building society reported a pre-tax profit of £486 million for the six months to the end of September, down from £568 million in the same period a year ago.

On an underlying basis, which strips out the impact of its “fairer share” payment, earnings rose to £977 million from £959 million in 2024.

Nationwide handed out a payment of £100 each to around four million of its members earlier this year.

This is because it is run as a mutual, meaning it is owned by customers, rather than shareholders.

Dame Debbie Crosbie, Nationwide’s chief executive, said the building society was “number one for growth in mortgages and retail deposits”, and highlighted that “more people switched their current accounts to us than to any other brand”.

“All of this, combined with the benefits of our acquisition of Virgin Money, has led to an increase in underlying profit before tax while delivering £1.2 billion of value to our members,” she said.