The commitment would secure HSBC 11.3% of the UK mortgage market, if gross mortgage lending totals the CML forecast of £133bn for 2012, and be in line with the largest market share the bank has ever had, it said.

This would potentially push the direct-only lender past Nationwide to become the fifth biggest mortgage lender in the UK and put it hot on the heels of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

CML figures for 2010, the most recent full-year figures available, show that Nationwide had a 9.0% market share to HSBC’s 8.3%, with the mutual lending £12.2bn, while RBS was in fourth at 11.9% market share with £16.2bn of lending.

Nevertheless, Nationwide made a concerted push in mortgage lending in 2011, with gross mortgage lending up 48% in the six months to September at £8.9bn and putting it on course to best 2010’s results.

HSBC claimed that the majority of the £15bn would be new money for the mortgage market and could help 150,000 homeowners and more than 27,000 first-time buyers.

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Martijn van der Heijden, head of lending at HSBC, said: “While some estimates suggest mortgage lending in the UK will fall this year, HSBC has no intention of closing its doors to customers, nor will we compromise our reputation for responsible lending.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates HSBC’s commitment to continuing to help people move up or, indeed, take the first step onto the housing ladder.”

The bank has been increasingly vocal of its aim to grow its presence in the UK mortgage market, particularly for first-time buyers, with its pledge of an extra £350m of lending to potential buyers in the final quarter of 2011 and the launch of a fee-free 90% LTV deal at 3.84%.

In H1 2011, HSBC lent £6.7bn in residential mortgages, up 35% on the same period of 2010 and giving it an 11% market share. It said more than one in four of the loans granted in the first half of last year was to first-time buyers.

David Hollingworth, head of communications at London & Country, said: “You have to take your hat off to HSBC for consistently stating what it is going to commit publicly; it is a clear statement of intent. It’s bittersweet for brokers, because it continues to refuse to work with them, but on balance, it’s a good thing for competition.

“It won’t be lost on other lenders what HSBC is doing and it will sharpen their focus. But whether it will deflect them from their own strategies is a question of whether they can take action and compete. I think some lenders, like Nationwide, will stick with their own strategy rather than panic about what others are doing.”

A Nationwide spokesperson said it was looking to continue its lending momentum into 2012: “Nationwide’s focus for this year will be to continue to support the housing market and especially first-time buyers. In 2011, one in every four of our mortgages was for first-time buyers and we will continue to offer them higher LTV loans and product discounts while actively helping borrowers to get on the property ladder.”

Lea Karasavvas, managing director of Prolific Mortgage Finance, said: “I think it’s fantastic that HSBC is pledging £3bn to the first-time buyer market. Anything that can encourage and push first-time buyers in the current climate is something we should all be supportive of irrespective of who is doing it.

“HSBC has always been quite an aggressive lender and made life difficult for brokers, but you have to respect it for that. I fully encourage its support of first-time buyers and hopefully it will push some other lenders to start advancing what they do for first-time buyers as well.”