Building societies in the UK lent £12.7bn of gross new mortgages in the first three months of the year, some 29% of all new lending across the market, the latest data shows.

Societies also approved over 91,000 mortgages in the first quarter while net lending by all lenders totalled £3bn, according to the figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA).

Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy at the BSA, said lending by building societies has been strong and without the contribution of this section of the market the stock of mortgage loans across the UK would have shrunk in the first three months of the year.

“Societies hold a 20% share of mortgage balances, but have had a much greater share of the flow of new lending for some time. In the first quarter they delivered 29% of all new mortgages,” he explained.

“This is partly because of competitive products and partly due to the more personal approach they take to underwriting. The trend looks set to continue in the second quarter as around a third of mortgage approvals in the first quarter were from building societies,” he added.