Saffron Building Society has decided to suspend new lending on equity release after reaching a satisfactory level of lending.
Government-owned banks are offering the most competitive mortgage deals, according to data from Evaluate Technologies.
Just 3% of mortgage borrowers who fall into arrears end up losing their homes, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA).
Mortgage firms received more than twice the number of complaints in the first half of last year than they did in the first six months of 2006, FSA figures show.
Building societies are likely to suffer falling profits as interest rates remain low and credit losses mount, says accounting group KPMG.
The Luxembourg-registered Guardian Permanent Income fund has attracted "considerable" support from IFAs ahead of its launch on 1 September, according to Guardian Managers.