Newcastle Building Society announced its gross mortgage lending in the first half of 2021 was £483 million compared to £357 million in the first half of 2020.
Profit before tax increased by £11.7 million to £13.9 million.
Newcastle this year moved its HQ from the city centre to Cobalt Park, North Tyneside.
Newcastle CEO Andrew Haigh said: “Strong savings balances in our branches provide stable funding for our lending.
“Our mortgage lending volumes have increased as we have focused both on managing market risk and opportunity, while maintaining our sensible lending approach in a heated market.
“Our gross mortgage lending in the first half of 2021 was £483m (Half year 2020: £357m) with net core lending at £220m and we welcomed 2,331 (June 2020: 1,933) new mortgage customers.
“House prices across the country continue to rise and achieving the dream of home ownership can often feel out of reach when a large deposit is required.
“This impacts both first time and next time buyers.
“Our support for both has been further strengthened in the past few months through our participation in two new innovative mortgage support schemes.
“One area of the market particularly challenging for buyers is purchasing a new build home with a small (5%) deposit, as most lenders don’t offer high loan to value lending on a new build mortgage.
“We were therefore delighted to announce ‘Deposit Unlock’ in June, an innovative new-build mortgage product which provides an option for those with a small deposit to realise their dream of owning a new-build home.
“We helped develop this innovative scheme, a first for the UK, collaborating with insurance broker, Gallagher Re, The Home Builders Federation and four of its Members: Vistry Group, Barratt Developments, Keepmoat Homes, and Bellway Homes.
“As a key player in the development of Deposit Unlock, Newcastle Building Society is the first lender to offer mortgages under this arrangement, which is being piloted exclusively in our region before being rolled out nationally …”
Haigh added: “Early in 2021 we moved out of our Newcastle city centre head office location, reducing our administrative building footprint from two to one.
“As we look to a future of hybrid working, top of our agenda is the opportunity this provides for us to embed an environmentally friendly approach and practice as we transform our new head office building at Cobalt Park, North Tyneside.
“Investing in our shared future to reduce our carbon footprint has also included the introduction of an environmentally friendly electric vehicle leasing scheme as a colleague benefit.”