The lender completed £5.7bn in gross mortgage lending during January, February and March, considerably up on the £3.3bn recorded in the same period last year.

First-time buyer lending made up £1bn of this figure with the bank completing £62m in Help to Buy mortgages.

Santander also boasted a large increase in applications with 70% more customers seeking a mortgage from the bank than a year ago.

Net mortgage lending decreased by £0.5bn to reach £50bn. Standard variable rate mortgage balances fell by £2.3bn during the first three months of the year which the bank said was partially offset by borrowers transferring to an internal mortgage product.

Santander said the strong performance in the first quarter would mean “modest growth” in its mortgage lending over the course of 2014.

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Its profit before tax in the UK was £416m, up 48%, based on total income of £1,094m.

“This has been another strong quarter for Santander UK as we successfully execute our transformation to a bank that is simple, personal and fair for all our customers,” said Ana Botín, chief executive officer.

“UK homeowners, families and businesses continued to benefit from our support in the first quarter of 2014. We provided £5.7bn of mortgages to UK households, including £1bn to first-time buyers and £62m as part of the Help to Buy scheme.”