Saffron Building Society has seen a £53m increase in mortgage lending in 2021, following on from a record year in 2020.
Its latest results also revealed record profitability as a result of increased lending and return to pre-pandemic margins bolstered by a strong post-pandemic recovery strategy.
CEO Colin Field said: “To say I am delighted to have added another £243m of new mortgage origination – putting new members into their first, new or remain in their current home – would be an understatement.
“The pessimist in me would say, ‘Well, it was a buoyant market; many lenders had the same positive impact on their mortgage book’.
“However, the optimist in me must tip my hat to the great work of the society’s dedicated teams who continued to future-proof our operations to suit the ever-changing landscape caused by Covid-19.
“The team’s ability to adapt – not just in the way they worked – but also in our range of mortgage products – has been paramount to our success.
“To remain as competitive as possible, we managed rates efficiently. We also adjusted – and improved – product criteria to ensure fairness for those unfairly impacted by the pandemic, such as the self-employed.
“Importantly, we have been able to enter or return to areas of the market we haven’t been in for some time, such as limited company buy-to-let.”
Whilst lending may have decreased slightly against the record year of 2020; the 2021 figures remain one of the best years on record for the mutual.
For Field, the positive results have been the realisation of his predictions of how the society would traverse the impact of Covid-19: “Although we celebrated a record year of lending in 2020, the economic impact on the society, from reduced interest rates significantly impacted our bottom line.
“Our underlying business remained strong and I forecast last year that impact would be a one-off for the business, and I am delighted to say our end-of-year results prove I was correct, as we report growth in profitability in line with post-pandemic results.”
The 2021 financial year wasn’t without challenges for lenders, borrowers, and savers. Although cautiously optimistic about the year ahead, there are still many hurdles to navigate in the current economic climate, something Field said the society is focused on: “Whilst we celebrate the success in our annual report, my colleagues and I are consciously aware of the challenges the UK faces in the current economic climate. Inflation continues to rise; the Bank of England is trying to mitigate the impact – something we have seen in the recent interest rate increases- but the whole of society will feel it.
“Those in lower-income homes are being, and will significantly be, affected by rising living costs and the National Insurance increase that is going bite hard over the coming months. Nobody can accurately predict where we might be this time next year.
“However, I am confident that Saffron will continue to adapt to the challenges that arise. We will focus on lessening the financial impact on our members and assisting as many people as we can to understand, manage, and improve their financial well-being and promote money happiness. Something we all deserve.”
