Strong lending performance and continuing support for under-served housing market sectors helped Leeds Building Society surpass previous lending records in 2022, its annual results show.
Reporting the Society’s annual results, chief executive officer Richard Fearon said the mutual had delivered once again to put home ownership within reach of more people.
First-time buyers remained a key focus for the Society, and in 2022 around a third of all Leeds Building Society’s new mortgages were in this sector, as gross lending reached another peak of £5.0bn (2021: £4.4bn). Total mortgage assets now stand at £20.3bn (2021: £18.3bn), another record.
Growth in lending – supported by the highest-ever savings inflow, taking total deposits past £17.5bn (2021: £15.2bn) – drove record profit before tax of £220.5m (2021: £163.7m).
Nine of the Society’s ten busiest days for lending were recorded in 2022, but ongoing significant investment in systems serving brokers saw satisfaction levels remain at record highs.
“Our continued support for the housing market enabled us to surpass all previous lending records,” said Fearon.
“We really delivered on helping to put home ownership within reach of more people with total mortgage lending of £5bn. 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.
“We are again backing our values with actions by extending our suspension of all mortgage arrears fees until at least the beginning of 2024. Our mutual status, which makes us ultimately answerable to our customers, enables us to go further in supporting our members when they need it most.
“The past couple of years have been challenging for everyone and we face what could be prolonged economic headwinds. It is now the hardest time to afford a home since our founding year in 1875, a sad reflection of decades of inaction to tackle the UK’s housing crisis.
“But we will continue to find ways we can help and put homeownership within reach of more people, just as we have for almost 150 years.”
