Some £18 billion was lent by building societies and other mutuals for mortgages in the first six months of 2013.
Research by the Building Societies Association (BSA) revealed the positive results, which represent a 28 per cent year-on-year increase.
The figure means these organisations took a 24 per cent share of the market across Q1 and Q2, which demonstrates how important a player they now are in the sector.
Brian Morris, head of savings policy at BSA, said: “In the continuing low interest rate environment, building societies and other mutuals endeavour to continue to offer value to their customers.”
He added saving conditions remain challenging and so it is not clear exactly how long this trend will continue.
Encouragingly for those looking to get onto the housing ladder, mutuals boosted lending to all types of applicants in H1, including first-time buyers with small deposits.
This means 38,000 people were able to secure their first mortgage, a figure that will only go up as the government’s Help to Buy scheme continues to make affordable mortgage lending a real possibility.