NatWest has revealed its mortgage lending nearly halved at the start of the year as it retreated from parts of the market when competition among lenders stepped up. The banking group said new mortgage lending totalled £5.2 billion in the first three months of the year, down from £9.9 billion the previous year. Paul Thwaite, NatWest’s chief executive, said demand for mortgages reduced throughout 2023 and there were fewer deals on offer. He added: “Because the market was relatively thin, price competition was very high and we took a conscious decision at that point to not compete across all segments during the latter part of the third and fourth quarter. “We wanted to ensure we could get the right returns from the capital we were deploying.” He said that explains the year-on-year decline in lending, but added that mortgage applications had since increased by about 25% and the lender has grown its share of the market to more than 12%. The group, which also includes Royal Bank of Scotland and Coutts, reported an operating pre-tax profit of £1.3 billion for the first quarter, down 27% from £1.8 billion the previous year. It is ahead of the £1.2 billion profit analysts...