Bank of Ireland will no longer sell UK residential mortgage products through brokers in a move to reduce the size of its borrowings.
The development is likely to result in hundreds of job losses in the UK as it will close two mortgage processing centres Solihull and Reading.
A spokesperson for the bank says that until now intermediaries were responsible for the sale of up to 80% of its residential mortgages in the UK.
The bank had lent £29 billion to home buyers in Britain by the end of September last year. This change of focus will see the value 'reduce significantly', the bank says, over time.
The bank will continue to sell its mortgage products through its fledgling joint venture with the UK Post Office and through its 44 Bank of Ireland branches in Northern Ireland.
The move is among a number of cost-cutting measures at the bank. It hopes to save about £30m a year, with one-off restructuring costs of £40m.
The bank said the move was designed to reduce dependence on the wholesale money markets.
