Hanley Economic Building Society has withdrawn all its mortgage products from the market on what it says is a temporary basis with immediate effect.

This is being done, the lender says, as part of the final stage of an overhaul of its mortgage and saving platforms, something it has been working on with DPR since April 2020.

The goal is to create an online system that will speed up and simplify the application process, the lender explains.

It adds that existing applications will still be serviced and a relaunch of its products is due in the second quarter of this year.

Hanley head of marketing and business development David Lownds says: “Work has been going on behind the scenes since April 2020 to transform our mortgage systems to ensure that we move to a more modern model which better reflects the innovative nature of the society.

“This process is almost complete and we have taken the step to temporarily halt new mortgage lending so that we can make this final transition as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“It marks the beginning of a new chapter for the society and when we return to the lending market, which will be sooner rather than later, we believe that we will be in a far stronger position to better service the ever-changing needs of our intermediary partners and their clients.”