Building societies held outstanding mortgage balances of £338bn at the end of the third quarter, a figure worth 23% of the market share, according to new data from the Building Societies Association (BSA).

The latest figure also reflected a 1% rise on the £333.9bn in outstanding mortgage balances at the end of Q3 2019.

The BSA also revealed that gross mortgage lending from building societies was £14.6bn in the third quarter, a total down 9% on the £15.9bn in Q3 2019. Net lending stood at £1.2bn at the end of Q3, which was down 43% compared to the £2.1bn in Q3 2019.

The latest data also showed that building societies approved 111,800 new mortgage loans over the quarter – a 28% market share – which was up 5% on the 106,200 loans recorded in Q3 2019, when this was a 26% market share. Furthermore, the BSA revealed that building societies lent to over 20,000 first-time buyers.

BSA head of mortgage policy, Paul Broadhead, described 2020 as a “turbulent year” for the mortgage market.

“Although the housing and mortgage markets are buoyant at the moment, and the wider economy has recovered somewhat, we are far from out of the woods,” Broadhead said.

“Around 9% of the workforce – 3.3 million jobs – are currently being supported by the furlough scheme, and only once this and other government support has ended will the long-term impact of coronavirus be fully understood.

“We are also concerned about the cliff edge effect of the abrupt end of the stamp duty holiday on 31 March and have called on the government to taper its removal to lessen market impact.”

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