Pre-tax profit for the first six months of the year was £117.1m, up 71% on the first half of 2013.

Gross mortgage lending across the whole business was 50% up on the first half of last year, reaching £3.7bn versus £2.5bn at this stage last year. Commercial mortgages made up £62.8m of this figure with the remainder covering residential property.

Net mortgage lending increased with total mortgage balances growing to £30.8bn, up from the £29.5bn recorded in December 2013. The lender said it had accounted for almost one-fifth of all UK net mortgage lending in the period.

Yorkshire said 38% of its house purchase loans had been to first-time buyers while it provided 34% of all UK offset mortgages. In total, 94% of mortgages were currently funded by savings balances and reserves.

The group houses five brands including intermediary-only lender Accord Mortgages, Barnsley Building Society, Chelsea Building Society, Norwich & Peterborough Building Society and Yorkshire Building Society.

Chris Pilling, Yorkshire Building Society Group’s chief executive, praised the firm’s implementation of the Mortgage Market Review rules and said the business would continue to invest.

“Achieving good levels of profit allows us to continue to invest in the future of the Group and make our offer to customers even stronger, for example ensuring a smooth transition to comply with the new Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rules with fully trained advisers available across our branch network and via our telephone contact centre.

“We have also successfully delivered in our core business areas – completing more than 16,000 mortgages, opening more than 100,000 savings accounts at a time of historically low interest rates, growing the N&P current account customer base and continuing to provide no-obligation financial advice for all across our branch network.”