Dudley Building Society has returned to lending after halting new mortgage business in March.

The intermediary-only mutual says that 2019 was a record year for lending, but it had to put business on hold in order to manage its pipeline and help existing customers affected by Covid.

It will return with a limited appetite, offering a core range of residential mortgages as well as niche products for the self-build, self-employed and expat buy-to-let sectors. 

Commercial director Sam Ward says: “I am delighted to be able to announce our return to the market. 

“Our packager partners have been keen for us to reopen and while we ease ourselves back into the market, our introducers can be assured that our service and ability to deliver innovative lending solutions remains unchanged.

“While we were disappointed to suspend new business acquisition one of the unexpected advantages was that it gave us more human resources to help existing customers when the Covid-19 crisis started to cause them concern. 

“We were able to offer, as we still do, a more comprehensive support service to customers that went far beyond the deferment of payments. 

“In many cases, we were able to offer alternative solutions which better suited particular customer circumstances.”