It attributed this growth to maintaining pricing discipline within a competitive and uncertain market.
It reported a growth in mortgage balances to £52.3bn, up from £51.9bn in 2025.
Overall mortgage balances grew by 0.8%, slower than the 1.7% growth recorded in the first half of 2025.
The mutual provided 19,300 new residential mortgages, up from 18,000 in H1 2026.
Of those new mortgages, 5,600 went to first-time buyers, up from 4,500 last year.
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Susan Allen, CEO of YBS, described the overall UK mortgage market in the first half of 2026 as “subdued”, as affordability pressures and market uncertainty weighed down the space.
She continued: “We have made a solid start to the year, increasing our savings and mortgage balances despite a challenging backdrop of swap rate volatility and heightened competition.
“How we responded to the market volatility has led to some sharp increases in demand for our savings and mortgage products at points during the year. For example, in March, we recorded the busiest day for mortgage applications in our history.”
Impairment charge jumps
The impairment charge on financial assets jumped to £23.7m from just £2m in the same period last year.
The proportion of the mortgage portfolio classed as Stage 2, where credit risk has increased significantly since origination, rose to 7.6% from 5.9% at the end of 2025.
Net interest income fell to £418.8m from £429.6m a year earlier, with the mutual’s net interest margin slimming to 1.25%, down 0.06 percentage points. YBS said this was due to a lower bank rate compared with 12 months ago and continued pressure on margins from competition.
Allen said: “We have delivered a solid first-half performance, growing both savings and mortgage balances while continuing to invest in the products and services our members value.
“Against a backdrop of economic volatility and heightened competition, our results demonstrate the strength of our mutual model and the trust millions of customers place in us.”
