HBOS, the country's biggest mortgage lender, is axeing up to 425 jobs amid a shrinking loan market and a drop in house prices.

From next week it will stop writing new loans at The Mortgage Business, which specialises in buy-to-let, self-certified and self-build loans. It said its main specialist lender, Birmingham Midshires, will manage business previously written through TMB.

HBOS said the move, which will involve 325 job cuts, would avoid duplication and streamline its mortgage business, currently spread over five brands. The bank will separately cut up to 100 jobs in IT positions as part of the restructuring.

From next month, HBOS will also stop offering conventional mortgages via its Intelligent Finance online banking brand, created in 2000 as a provider of offset mortgages.

Future customers will need to open a current account alongside a savings account in order to qualify for a home loan.

HBOS, which writes one in five new mortgages in Britain, has predicted UK house prices will fall by 15-20 per cent over 2008 and 2009.

After a decade of booming values and cheap credit, Britain's housing market has seen a sharp slowdown in recent months.

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