First Direct 'not taking new mortgage applications'

02-Apr-2008

The need for first-time buyers to move quickly on property deals has been underscored by First Direct, which has become the first bank to withdraw its mortgage range to new customers.

This comes after Nationwide discontinued many of its most popular deals and raised rates on others.

Banks and building societies have found themselves swamped with new mortgage applications due to the reduction of available products increasing demand.

Commenting on the decision, Chris Pilling, First Direct's chief executive, said: "We've seen an unprecedented demand for our mortgages since January thanks to our highly competitive pricing and the decision of other lenders to raise rates. As a result, we're currently seeing applications running at five times our normal volumes."

However, First Direct has said that the move to withdraw its popular 4.95 per cent, two-year fixed-rate mortgage deal is only temporary, and will be resumed after the bank has cleared a backlog of customers.

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