In a missive to brokers, the lender said that it had made some changes to its mortgage range in order to slow down applications, however, the mutual had continued to see a “record number of applications” from intermediary partners.
Cambridge continued that in order to ensure it was in the “best position to continue supporting you and your clients” it would temporarily withdraw its residential and buy-to-let mortgage range to new business.
The mutual did not say when it would reopen its residential and buy-to-let mortgage ranges.
Cambridge Building Society is the 13th largest building society in the UK, with 2021 gross mortgage lending rising 32 per cent year-on-year to £318m.
The lender offers a wide range of products, including discounted variable rates, interest-only, fixed rate, Help to Buy, shared ownership, self-employed, holiday let and credit assist mortgages.
Cambridge Building Society’s intermediary manager Kathy Bowes said: “We take our commitment to intermediaries and their customers very seriously. We’ve seen an influx in applications in recent months and as a responsible lender we have decided to take a short break from accepting new business to help us maintain our service levels.
“We didn’t take the decision lightly and we gave as much notice to our registered Intermediary partners as we could. We understand the challenges they’ve been facing too.”
She said that product ranges are available for product switches and additional borrowing.
Cambridge is the latest lender to temporarily withdraw products, with Hodge temporarily closing to new business across all mortgage ranges in June due to high business volumes and to maintain service levels.
Hodge has since re-entered the residential mortgage market, writing 50 plus residential, retirement interest-only (RIO) and holiday let mortgages.
Service levels have come increasingly under pressure due to high levels of mortgage activity, with pressure rising for both lenders and brokers to meet demand.
