Yorkshire Building Society opened 537,000 savings accounts and provided 41,000 residential mortgages last year.
The mutual’s annual financial results, announced today, revealed strong growth in its savings and mortgage balances.
Despite a lower interest rate environment, its savers benefited from interest rates 0.90 percentage points more than the rest of market average, equating to an additional £430.2m in interest paid. This means the extra interest earned by members has topped £1bn in the last three years.
In the year the Society launched its innovative £5k Deposit Mortgage – enabling borrowers to buy a property worth up to £500,000 with a deposit of just £5,000 – it helped hundreds of people buy their first home, many of whom thought being a homeowner was out of reach. This, combined with more traditional mortgage products with larger deposits, meant one in three of its new residential mortgages went to a first-time buyer.
After supporting research that showed saving even a small amount improves mental wellbeing, it also introduced a £50 Regular Saver which helped 17,600 people to begin or continue a savings habit.
Its Net Promoter Score - which measures customer satisfaction – increased to a record high as the mutual invested in digital and improving customers’ experience.
Key highlights:
- Nearly 2.9m people now save with the Society, after 537,000 savings accounts were opened in 2024 (2023: 693,000)
- Savings balances increased by 10.6% (2023: 12.0%) to £52.0bn (2023: £47.1bn)
- Paid an average savings rate of 4.21% in 2024 (2023: 3.43%), 0.90 percentage points above the market average (2023: 1.01pp), delivering an additional £430.2m in interest to members (2023: £441.1m)
- Mortgage balances grew by 6.2% (2023: 3.6%) to £49.7bn (2023: £46.8bn)
- Provided 41,000 new mortgages (2023: 44,000) to help people find a place to call home
- Gross mortgage lending increased to £9.7bn (2023: £9.2bn) and net lending increased to £2.9bn (2023: £1.6bn)
- Profit before tax was £383.7m (2023: £450.3m)
- Core operating profit £345.7m (2023: £449.9m)
- Common Equity Tier 1 ratio 18.1% (2023: 16.7%)
The mutual expected a return to more normalised levels of profit, because of a lower interest rate environment.
Susan Allen, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said:
“Yorkshire Building Society’s solid performance has continued in our 160th year. Throughout our history, we have focused on helping generation after generation find a place to call home and improve their financial wellbeing.
“We’re a proud mutual, with no external shareholders, so our profits are returned to our members through higher savings rates, and reinvested in our products, services and communities.
“We know through our own research that homeownership is moving further out of reach for many people, and that nearly one in five UK adults have less than £100 in savings.
“Against this backdrop, the support we provide is extremely important in helping our members and customers find a place to call home and build their financial wellbeing.
