Of this, £18.8bn was owner-occupied lending and £1.2bn was buy-to-let (BTL) lending.
Total customer lending rose to £447.7bn from £429.9bn at the end of 2025, with the bank stating that growth was primarily driven by increased mortgage lending.
Lending on mortgages with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios above 90% totalled £1.3bn. The weighted average LTV on new owner-occupied mortgages was 72%, while the equivalent figure for BTL mortgages was 59%.
Interest-only mortgage lending represented £2.1bn of new lending, while mixed mortgages totalled £502m.
NatWest said it had provided £8.2bn of mortgage lending to first-time buyers during the first half of the year and continued to broaden its mortgage proposition through partnerships with Rightmove and Landbay.
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Within retail banking, mortgage balances increased by £3.9bn during the second quarter, while NatWest said balance sheet growth during the year had been primarily driven by the expansion of its mortgage portfolio.
Total income increased by 9.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, supported by lending growth and higher deposit income, although NatWest said this was partly offset by lower mortgage margins.
NatWest said it continued to see strong credit performance across its loan portfolio, but impairment charges increased as a result of ongoing uncertainty in the economic outlook.
