According to the latest financial results from Yorkshire Building Society, gross mortgage lending has “remained high by historical standards”.
The lender said that it offered 44,000 new residential mortgages, which is slightly down from 47,000 mortgages in 2022.
Mortgage balances grew to £46.8bn, which is a rise from £45.2m.
The mutual reported a statutory profit before tax of £450.3m, which is down from £502.5m in 2022.
The company’s net interest margin (NIM) stood at 1.31 per cent, a rise of one basis point, which it attributed to “effective trading strategies as well as the increases made to bank rate in the year”.
Susan Allen (pictured), chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said that, as she completed her first year as chief executive, she was “proud to lead such a strong and sustainable organisation focused on supporting its members, customers and communities”.
She added that, despite the mortgage market being “much smaller” in 2023, it had grown its market share, and one in three of its new owner-occupied mortgages come from a first-time buyer.
Allen continued: “Providing support to our borrowers is also important to us. Research in our Home Truths report highlighted how homeownership is moving further out of reach for many. Product innovation under our Place to Call Home priority is one way we seek to support prospective borrowers.
“We have launched products through our intermediary lender, Accord Mortgages, which allow family members to support younger generations and we continue to explore ways to make our products available to a wider range of customers.
“We are also mindful of the challenges faced by our existing mortgage-holders and our teams have worked hard to understand and respond to individual circumstances. We proactively reached out to customers most impacted by interest rate increases and we signed up to the government-led Mortgage Charter to help customers navigate the higher cost of living.”
