Yorkshire Building Society said it had helped a record number of first-time buyers as it increased its share of a buoyant housing market.
In a half-year trading update, the country’s third largest building society said it had helped almost 10,000 first time buyers after becoming the first provider to reintroduce 5% deposit mortgages.
The society also saw a big increase in the number of new savings accounts to 153,000. Its statutory profit before tax more than doubled to £147.7m and core operating profit also increased to £134.9m.
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It said that continuing low interest rates had created a “tough” environment for savers and it had delivered rates higher than the market average to reward them.
The mutual said it gave mortgages to a record 9,931 first-time buyers in the six months to June 30, around three times the number from the same period in 2020. The numbr of residential mortgages it provided over the period rose by almost a third to 41,750.
It came as house prices jumped and sale demand lifted ahead of the deadline for the stamp duty holiday for some properties at the end of June.
Yorkshire Building Society added that total mortgage balances also made gains, rising by £2.2bn to £41bn at the end of June.
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Chief executive Mike Regnier said: “Despite the uncertain external environment, I’m pleased to report that Yorkshire Building Society has made a strong start to the year. The housing and mortgage markets have been strong in the first six months of 2021 and remain positive as we enter the economic recovery period.
“This has enabled us to end the first half of the year with good profit levels and strong capital and liquidity positions. We have demonstrated efficiency through growing the society in terms of both mortgage and savings balances whilst maintaining costs at a level similar to last year.
“These results have only been possible because of the hard work, commitment and resilience of our colleagues. They have supported our customers and each other in an exemplary way throughout this difficult period. I’m incredibly proud of, and grateful to, every one of them.
“As an organisation, we want to make a difference to our members’ lives and one of the highlights of our results is that we’ve helped 10,000 first-time buyers to become homeowners. This is the largest number of people we’ve helped on to the housing ladder in six months of any year. We’ll continue to support people to buy homes throughout the rest of the year and beyond.”