Results from the bailed-out bank’s interim management statement showed that gross new mortgage lending dropped 15.9% from the period January to March 2015, against the previous year.

RBS also suffered a loss of £446m for the first quarter of 2015, as it was required to set aside £856m for litigation and conduct charges to cover alleged foreign exchange manipulation, and a further £453m in restructuring costs.

However, RBS said March was the highest month for mortgage application numbers and volumes since the start of 2014, while mortgage balances grew 3% on Q1 2014 to £103.6bn.

The lender also increased its intermediary numbers by 33% compared with the start of 2014, and up 12% since the beginning of 2015 with the addition of 91 mortgage advisers to its business.

A recruitment boost to RBS’s adviser business in 2014 saw the bank post a 37% year-on-year rise in gross mortgage lending in its annual results statement.

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Chancellor George Osborne said he would plan a quick sale of RBS if the Tories were re-elected in an interview with the FT Weekend Magazine in March.

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