Leeds Building Society breaks records and backs first time buyers

( )

LEEDS Building Society flew the flag for mutuality today, breaking records for mortgage lending and member numbers.

With big banks under pressure for reporting the highest profits since 2007 while keeping savings rates low, building societies have shown their worth.

Leeds lent £5 billion in home loans in 2022, the highest ever, which it says “helped put home ownership within reach of more people”.

The Leeds has been around since 1875 and now has more members than ever – 839,000 people who effectively own the business. It is the fifth biggest building society – Nationwide is the number one.

Leeds says it has suspended all mortgage arrears fees until “at least” the start of 2024 to help struggling customers figure out their finances.

Chief executive Richard Fearon said: "Our continued support for the housing market enabled us to surpass all previous lending records. We continued to offer strong support for customers less well served by the wider market despite the extremely volatile conditions we were operating in. Approximately one in three of all our mortgages went to first time buyers - helped by our decision to withdraw from lending on second homes to bolster our support for those yet to get on the property ladder.”

Fearon claims the society paid savers an interest rate that was 0.5% higher than the rest of the market.

Banks deny profiteering.