“We’ve had another successful 2011 where our mortgage balances would have grown by 9% against a market growth of less than 1%. I’m expecting 2012 to be a good year for us and other mutuals which is why we’re aiming to do gross lending of around £150m in 2012.”
Winter added: “This is just the time when mutuals can continue to grow and develop. Certainly the noises I hear from my fellow chief executives in other building societies is all very positive.”
Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy at the Building Societies Association added that the mutual sector is very much “open for business.”
He said: “Market conditions have been tough but the sector punched above its weight in 2011 by increasing gross mortgage lending by 15%, compared to 2010. The market as a whole showed virtually no growth. It’s very encouraging that individual societies are looking to grow their lending further in 2012.”
Winter added that the society has a broad product range, covering areas such as buy-to-let, equity release and self-build, but that it will be focusing on the higher LTV lending market this year.
“This is a market that we feel needs to be serviced because there are still lenders who are fighting shy of it. There is some exceptionally good business out there, it’s just some people don’t have big enough deposits and we’re looking to help them.
“We have the added advantage that everything is individually underwritten by experienced underwriters so we have people you can talk to, which intermediaries tell us they like.”
Winter added that the society’s intermediary business has also grown considerably over the past five years from around 60% to 80%.
“When we developed our mortgage lending we forged close contacts with both local and national intermediaries. We recognise that intermediaries are a key part of our business.”
