HSBC Group's First Direct brand will resume mortgage lending today, after having suspended sales on 1st April.

Mortgage lending was withdrawn for new borrowers throughout April and the first half of May because First Direct were receiving exceptionally high levels of business, which was impacting on service levels.

First Direct now say that their backlog has been cleared. In response to today's new, Chris Pilling, chief executive of First Direct, said : “Last month we took the bold decision to withdraw from mortgage sales to non customers to allow us to process the huge number of enquiries we had received and focus on the excellent service we want to provide for our customers.

“We've now assessed all the loan applications outstanding from 1 April and earlier and let everyone know the outcome.”

In other news today, Citigroup have announced that they are to concentrate on their Egg brand by ceasing trading with their struggling home loan outfit, Future Mortgages. Future were known to mortgage brokers as a niche sub prime and first time buyer lender. This will come as a further blow to homeowners, and especially those looking to take their first steps on the property ladder.