House buying has fuelled a record breaking half year for Leeds Building Society in which gross lending reached £2.5bn and pre-tax profits rocketed.
And the mutual has announced it will withdraw from lending on second homes, saying it wants to direct its efforts towards first-time buyers. Chief executive Robin Fearon said the mutual had built on 2021’s “exceptional” performance to deliver further growth in the first six months of this year. Pre-tax profits increased from £70.3m to £146.5m during the period as the society’s membership grew to 815,000.
Savings also performed well as total balances grew by £1bn to £16.4bn – buoyed by competitive rates. However, Mr Fearon acknowledged that demand had led to long call waiting times for some customers; a problem he said had now been remedied.
Across the society’s 50-strong network of branches, 65 people were recruited alongside refurbishment and improvement of locations. And a successful trial of hybrid working was said to be making use of the mutual’s new head office in Leeds city centre.
Mr Fearon said: “I’m delighted we’ve delivered a record breaking first half of the year, achieved a series of landmarks across our lending and supported savers at a critical time,” said Richard.
“Being mindful of our roots as a mutual, we’ve reaffirmed our purpose – to put home ownership within reach of more people – and future generations of first-time buyers are integral to our plans.
“To successfully deliver on that purpose means ensuring we offer a competitive savings range. We’ve consistently paid above the market average rate – which equates to an extra £66m in our savings members’ pockets [1] – and our fixed rate products have been a notable strength, appealing to new and existing savers alike.
“The value that we give to savers is especially important during a cost of living crisis, and we have also been considerate of the challenges facing our borrowers too. While the Bank of England’s Base Rate increased four times during the first half of the year, we raised our variable savings rates on each occasion but only raised our standard variable mortgage rate once.
“I’m proud we were able to attract so many new members but acknowledge the elevated demand for our savings products led to some long waiting times for callers. We didn’t always meet the high standards of service we strive for but I’m pleased that we’ve taken steps to address this and the situation has now returned to normal.”
