Yorkshire financial institution sets new lending record

A Yorkshire building society has set new records for mortgage lending.

Reporting on Leeds Building Society’s annual results, CEO Richard Fearon said the Society’s record support for the housing market, particularly under-served sectors including 20,000 first time buyers, had been key to success in an extremely demanding year.

The benefits of the mutual’s ongoing investment to future-proof IT systems became evident in handling its busiest-ever year for applications, with gross lending reaching a record £4.4bn, and it continued to lead in the affordable housing space.

Growth in lending was aided by an increase in savings balances to top £15.25bn (£14.2bn 2020), as the Society maintained its support for savers by consistently paying above the market average savings rate, which equates to an annual benefit of more than £71m to its saving members.

In addition, the lender added to its track record for innovation, launching preferential mortgage deals for the most energy-efficient homes and developing a unique carbon neutral product for other purchasers.

“2021 was a landmark year for Leeds Building Society and I’m incredibly proud of our successful performance, and all my colleagues have done for us to achieve this,” said Richard.

“We delivered on our purpose by supporting the housing market, bringing home ownership within reach for record numbers of first time buyers and Shared Ownership purchasers.

“The Society broke so many records in 2021 – it was our busiest 12 months ever for mortgage applications and our biggest year for first time buyer lending, which accounted for almost one in three of all our new mortgages, another record.

Richard continued: “Our successful strategy for supporting customers less well served by the wider market saw us join the Government’s new First Homes scheme and complete the mortgages for its very first purchasers, and we remained active in Shared Ownership, winning further awards.

“With first time buyers in mind, we also launched a new Regular Saver account, ideal to start building up a deposit.”

Leeds Building Society’s strong performance in a vibrant housing market delivered record profit before tax of £163.7m (£80.7m 2020), enabling the business to further increase capital and reserves to £1.46bn (£1.35bn 2020), well above the regulatory requirement. The Society continues to retain very strong levels of liquidity.