The Nationwide Building Society helped 25,700 first time buyers onto the property ladder during the first half of 2015/16 – an 8% increase on the same period of 2014/15.

This represents a 15.8% share by volume and a 16.1% share by value across the market.

At the same time, first time buyers have accounted for 50% of the Society’s house purchase loans, against a CML market average of 46%.

Gross mortgage lending rose by 14% to £14.9 billion (H1 2014/15: £13.1 billion) representing a 13.2% share of the market. Net lending was also up 14% at £4.1 billion (H1 2014/15: £3.6 billion) – a 21.2% market share.

Over the first half of the year, The Mortgage Works gross advances accounted for £2.9 billion of the society’s total mortgage lending, up 33% and representing a 15% share of gross buy-to-let lending in the UK.

Chris Rhodes, Nationwide’s executive director of retail, said: “What is clear from these strong results is that Nationwide has continued to marry competitive products and leading customer service to maintain its position as the leading alternative to the banks.

“This is borne out by the numbers, which show that not only do many people see the Society as the number one option for their current account, but they also view Nationwide as the home for their savings and the organisation which can get them into their own home. We hope that we have demonstrated that there’s never been a better time to join us – at whatever stage of life you are.”

Nationwide’s interim results reported underlying profit up 27% at £801 million.