The Mortgage Works is planning to launch a direct-to-consumer channel and no longer sell its products exclusively through brokers.

TMW, the Nationwide Group’s buy-to-let arm, has been broker-only since its launch.

The firm has been piloting a direct arm over the last year, it has emerged.

A Nationwide spokeswoman says: “The Mortgage Works (TMW), part of the Nationwide Group, has been running a small pilot over the last year to help customers who approach Nationwide branches or telephone directly in search of a buy-to-let mortgage.”

The pilot is set to be scaled up to a full launch in 2017.