A Kent building society is bucking the national trend - with a predicted 14 per cent increase in mortgage lending.

As Britain reeled under the shock of a 23 per cent drop in home loans, Kent Reliance Building Society said it is weathering the financial storm well.

Latest official figures, up to September last year, show lending leapt by a third on the previous year. It is expected to increase by a further 14 per cent until the end of this year.

That compares with national figures out today from the British Bankers’ Association, (BBA), showing the number of mortgages approved for house purchases nosedived by 23 per cent during June – a new record low.

BBA approved just 21,118 loans for people buying a property during the last month, which was 67 per cent fewer than in June last year and the lowest figure since 1997.

But Kent Reliance says it is not cutting back on its lending like other banks because it still has plenty of money.

Mr Lazenby said: “It is not the same for us as it is nationally. Kent Reliance is quite different from other banks and building societies.

“We are continuing to lend in the mortgage market. Part of the problem for the other lenders is that they have had to put up their prices because they are required to increase their equity. But we have not been affected in the same way because we are highly liquid. Therefore mortgage lending is still very buoyant across the county.

“We are giving our priorities to people in our own territory. Kent is very important to us.

“We have actually pulled out of Jersey to make more resources available to Kent – this is where we grew up.”

He added that shared ownership was an excellent way to get property without the risks and there were a lot of housing associations in the county offering this product. “One in three of our mortgages are a shared ownership mortgage.”

Kent Reliance has been serving the people of Kent for 150 years and is the fastest growing building society in the UK for the last six years.