Nationwide Buildings Society, which is one of Britain's largest lenders and depositors, has called the Government's policy of bailing out banks a disadvantage to the building societies that are "picking up the tab for banking failures". As per the Society, the bail-outs are "distorting competition" as well.

Figure reported by Nationwide for so far this year have revealed a 47% fall in lending and a 60% drop in profits, and Chief Executive Graham Beale has been quick to warn of a gloomy economic situation for the next two years at least. “The growth in house prices over recent months appears to be driven by lack of supply, and growth in unemployment throughout 2010 will inevitably exert downward pressure on house prices", he said.

The giant British buildings society has asserted that it had “followed a responsible approach” to lending for the initial 6 months of the current year, up-to September 30, for which the firm posted a slip in earnings from last year's figure of ?332 Million for the same period, to ?117 for the current year.

Regulatory changes and the Government's policies on injecting funds into big banks have been blamed by Nationwide for its losses, as the company braces itself to face 2 more tough years.