Residential lending increased by 35% in the first quarter and buy-to-let lending by 17%, taking its market share of gross lending to 3.4% during the period.

In its quarterly financial statement, Virgin said it expected the volume of its buy-to-let lending to reduce in the second quarter, which is likely due to the impact of a 3% Stamp Duty premium placed on the sector from 1 April.

Despite this, it said overall gross lending volumes are expected to rise year-on-year in 2016. Mortgage balances at Virgin now stand at £26.5bn, a 4% increase on the previous quarter.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO, said: “I am delighted to report it has been another excellent quarter for Virgin Money. We had a record start to the year for mortgages and our savings franchise continues to flourish with a strong inflow of cash ISAs.

“I would like to thank all of our customers and intermediary partners for their support in making it a record breaking start to the year for the business.”

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