Yorkshire Building Society says it has made a strong start to its financial year after seeing mortgage and savings balances increase.
The Society has issued results for the six months ended June 30 2023, showing it helped 23,000 people to own a home with mortgage balances increasing to £45.9bn, up from £45.2bn in December 2022. It also saw growth in savings, from £42bn to £45.6bn, helped by the opening of 320,000 new savings accounts.
The Society said it supported people to improve their financial wellbeing with three increases to variable savings rates in the first six months of the year, paying rates 1.04% higher than the market average. The member-owned mutual saw pre-tax profit fall from the 2022 comparable period figure of £243.4m to £180.6m, but saw its core operating profit rise from £192.5m to £246.4m.
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Susan Allen, chief executive officer at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “I’m delighted that these results – my first at the Society - demonstrate the strength and stability of our organisation. Against a backdrop of economic challenges, we’ve further improved the Society’s financial strength while delivering real help to our members and customers.
“Despite inflationary pressures and our continued investment to transform our business for the future increasing our costs, we’ve strengthened profitability, which as a mutual building society with no external shareholders, will be reinvested into the Society.
“After years of historically low savings rates, I’m pleased we’ve been at the forefront of giving back to savers as the rate landscape changed. So far this year we’ve passed on the majority of Bank rate rises to our savings range, launched new loyalty savings accounts for members who have been with us a year or longer, and set rates that were on average 1.04 percentage points higher than the market average. This will go some way to supporting our members as they navigate the current cost-of-living challenges.
“While lending is down on the previous half year, this was expected in the context of the wider market. However, the volume of applications remained high, demonstrating the strength of our mortgage range to help people own a place to call home. But we know borrowers are facing unprecedented times, and I want to reassure anyone worried about their ability to repay their mortgage with us that we’ll do everything we can to support them - a commitment we strengthened by signing the Mortgage Charter. We’re here to help and I hope borrowers reach out to let us support them through this difficult period.
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“It’s these challenges that bring our purpose into even sharper focus and lead us to shape our support to help those who need it, both through our products and services, and in our communities across the 海角视频.”
Looking ahead, the Society said the savings market is likely to see increased levels of competition from providers as banks and building societies compete for liquidity and consumers seek higher returns, but said that Yorkshire Building Society’s mutual model will ensure it is well placed to continue reacting to the ongoing challenges.