Mortgage lending by building societies in the first three months of 2022 was on a par with lending in the same period last year, when the stamp duty holiday was in operation, new figures have indicated.

Data published by the Building Societies Association (BSA) has also shown that both lending and approvals were higher in Q12022 than they were in Q4 2021, immediately after stamp duty was re-imposed.

The BSA’s figures revealed that gross mortgage lending in Q1 2022 was £17.9bn, on a par with Q1 2021 when it reached £18.0bn, and 11.7% above lending in Q4 2021 (£16.1bn).

During Q1 this year, building societies also approved 111,697 mortgage loans, a level that was down 6.0% on the 119,216 approved in Q1 2021, but up on the 102,542 mortgage loans approved in Q4 2021.

Furthermore, the BSA’s data indicates that building societies now hold outstanding mortgage balances of £358.0bn, which is up 4% on Q1 2021 (£343.0bn), and a steady 23% share of the total mortgage market.

Building Societies lent to 25,208 first-time buyers in the first quarter this year which was also broadly on par with the 25,735 mortgage loans in Q1 2021.

Chief executive of the BSA, Robin Fieth, said: “The housing market was vibrant between January and March this year, despite rising house prices and the re-imposition of stamp duty. The fact that building societies lent as much during this period as they did during Q1 2021 with no Stamp Duty payable is testament to their presence and competitiveness in a busy market.

“The limited number of properties being put up for sale, coupled with the rising cost of living is likely to result in a more subdued housing market as the year progresses. With over 80% of existing mortgages on fixed rates this won’t apply to the re-mortgage market which we expect to remain active.”

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