Nationwide feeling the pain as stamp duty knocks buy-to-lets

A slowdown in the buy-to-let market triggered by stamp duty reforms has hit profits at Nationwide, the country’s biggest building society said on Friday.

Nationwide admitted that gross mortgage lending fell from £8.6 billion to £8.1 billion in the three months to June 30.

It put this down to a “reduction in buy-to-let advances” as a result of stamp duty hikes for such properties brought in last year, as well as lending criteria changes.

Although customer numbers rose, the society said underlying pre-tax profits in the quarter dropped 18% to £301 million.

Announcing the latest results, boss Joe Garner warned that while the firm's research shows that consumers expect Brexit to leave their ability to access credit unchanged, there were choppy waters ahead.

“It will be important for lenders to balance carefully credit supply with affordability as we seek to support the long-term interests of consumers in a responsible way,” he said.