Building Societies Association
“Whatever the scenario, building societies are very well placed to succeed” - that was the key message from the outgoing Chairman of the Building Societies Association, Iain Cornish, in his closing address to the BSA Annual Conference in Manchester.
Reviewing his year in office, Mr. Cornish said that societies had entered the year in good shape as well capitalised, highly liquid and prudent businesses. Highlighting more than £1bn worth of benefits that societies give to members each year, Mr. Cornish spoke of the record savings figures achieved by societies in 2007 and into 2008 and noted that every society had continued to lend.
John Goodfellow, Chief Executive of the Skipton Building Society, took over the reigns as Chairman for 2008/09. He echoed Mr. Cornish’s optimistic theme, commenting that “the turmoil in the financial services market and the impact of the credit crunch provide an ideal opportunity for the building society movement. The fairness of mutuality and the inherent strengths of our business models position us as the providers best placed to weather this storm.”
Other speakers at the Conference included Hector Sants, Chief Executive of the FSA, who said that “building societies add a welcome element of diversity within the financial services sector…..we certainly encourage diversity as a way of adding strength and stability to the system and to encourage beneficial competition.”
Ray Boulger from John Charcol suggested that lifetime mortgages and shared ownership products would be big growth areas for the mortgage market over the next ten years, and said that while building societies may have little need for brokers at the moment, that may change in the future. Fionnuala Earley from the Nationwide Building Society spoke on the outlook for the UK housing market and said that although the Society was expecting a fall in house prices, it was not expecting a 1990s style crash.
