Mansfield Building Society, a Nottinghamshire lender with 25,000 depositors, has begun offering a 100 per cent mortgage to first-time homeowners buying in partnership with a housing association.

The mortgage is the first to cover the full value of borrowings by new homeowners since Abbey withdrew its last 100 per cent product 18 months ago. It is a sign of increasing efforts to get first-time buyers to enter the housing market.