The Talk Group’s new homes division says new homes sales stand at their highest ever for the half year ending 30 June 2011.

Total lending for this period was recorded as £141 million, compared with £67 million in the same period last year, representing an increase of 110%.

The relationship between Mortgage Bureau and Mortgage Talk began in February 2010 when Mortgage Talk West Midlands merged with Mortgage Bureau to form the largest new homes mortgage broker in the Midlands. It has allowed the two businesses to work closely together to oversee key relationships such as Barratt Group, Persimmon Homes and Taylor Wimpey, and provide whole of market mortgage options to all customers.

As the year goes on, the hope is that an increase in the amount of affordable housing schemes, and the launch of the government’s FirstBuy shared equity scheme in July will result in an equally productive second half to 2011.

Andrew Frankish , Mortgage Talk’s managing director, said: “New homes remains a challenging market