New figures from the Building Societies Association shows that the sector expanded its market share of outstanding balances to 23 per cent in the first quarter of this year – an annual rise of 3 per cent.

This translates to £336.6bn this year versus £327.3bn in the first quarter of 2019.

Gross lending, however, took a dip, coming in at £13.5bn in Q1 2020 versus £16.7bn in Q1 2020, and net lending likewise dropped within the same time frame: £0.9bn against £5.1bn.

Additionally, the BSA shows that building societies approved 27 per cent of new mortgage loans – 101,000 versus 121,000 in Q1 2019, of which 19,500 were first-time buyers.

BSA head of mortgages and housing Paul Broadhead says he expects the Q2 figures to be “lower than normal,” but that, “building societies are well placed and resilient enough to weather the storm and are preparing to ramp up lending now that the housing market is beginning to reopen.”