Covers a range of topics relating to mortgages and the wider housing market.
Covers issues relating to savings accounts and payments.
Covers developments in conduct of business regulation
Covers issues relating to the corporate governance and constitution of building societies.
People related matters such as talent development, apprenticeships and diversity.
Internal and external accounting assurance and matters relating to tax.
The regulation and supervision of firms to ensure their safety and soundness under the remit of the Prudential Regulation Authority.
A new legal aid scheme to support borrowers at risk of repossession (member only content).
Building societies and credit unions are customer-owned mutual organisations. Their culture is focused on their members and communities and this influences their day to day decisions.
A wide range of statistics relating to the UK mortgage and housing markets.
Research, analysis and guidance about our members and the issues that affect them.
Retail savings data including net receipts and deposits, ISAs and interest rates.
Operational and financial information about building societies. Includes AGM & financial results and remuneration details.
Submission and publication deadlines for BSA data and reports.
UK economic growth remains weak, inflation persists and government borrowing costs rise
News and views on topical issues from the BSA and guests.
View our latest press releases and comment here.
The BSA's quarterly magazine covers whats happening in the world of building societies, credit unions and the wider financial services sector.
A quarterly survey that assesses consumer sentiment regarding the UK property market.
View biographies and download photos of the BSA's key spokespeople
BSA speeches from events and seminars
View the latest webinars, training and other events open to members, associates and other stakeholders
View our latest BSA Annual Conference and comment here.
View our latest Past events & summaries and comment here.
Learn how to promote your event to the BSA's membership.
BSA Annual Conference (7 & 8 May 2024 in Birmingham)
Find factsheets on mortgages, savings and the building society sector.
Track building societies that no longer exists and get a link to its successor's website.
Find mortgage instructions and specific requirements setting out individual building society policies.
The UK Savings Week campaign aims to get people engaged in saving.
Toolkits to develop Workplace Savings are available here.
Here you can find our publications, responses to consultation documents, mortgage instructions, statistics and sector job vacancies.
Find out more about the BSA and the sector.
Contact details for each of our 49 members.
Our Associate members include a wide range of companies from insurers, banks, accountants, solicitors, and other business suppliers to BSA members.
The National Credit Union Forum (NCUF) is the Credit Union Committee of the BSA.
Find out how building societies have purpose beyond profit
View biographies and download photos of our key spokespeople
Vacancies for senior management, executive and other positions at the BSA and its member organisations
Find out the wide range of benefits of joining the BSA as an associate member.
The Building Societies Association is the voice of the UK's building societies.
Guest blog by Andrew Holden, Managing Director, Parliament Hill. This article was first published in Society Matters magazine.
Building societies are adept at providing competitive and innovative products and services to help their members save, build financial resilience and have a place to call home.
However, no sustainable business can consistently sit at the top of the best buy list. But as consumers are becoming ever more proficient at comparing rates before they buy, and then switching to the next headline rate as soon as they’re able, the increasingly competitive marketplace brings greater vulnerabilities for societies.
Increased intermediary involvement in the mortgage market, where customers remortgage as soon as it’s viable, can interrupt the relationship between member and society. In the savings market, the loyal older (and often local) savers, who so often hold the most valuable balances, are gradually being replaced by younger cohorts, with a greater affinity to comparing and switching rather than loyalty. And as interest rates have risen, the value of switching becomes all the more worthwhile for the individual.
Fair value and the wider Consumer Duty mean tactical rate offers for all may no longer be feasible, meaning new ways of providing member value to savers and borrowers are needed.
One way to add further value across the board, and to bring about the ability to take tactical action, is through the use of ‘member benefits’. These may include everyday savings for individual members, their families, and even their businesses. It could be discounts on the weekly shop, or trips to the cinema, or buying a car. Or it could be a 24-7 GP helpline, a legal helpline or an IT support helpline.
Benefits and offers like these can be used (for example through the Parliament Hill ‘savings calculator’) to demonstrate how members can save hundreds of pounds every year. And they can be employed tactically to help achieve numerous outcomes, including attracting new members and increasing engagement, and therefore strengthening relationships, with existing members.
Benefits can be used to make the case for members who are considering leaving a society, to stay. Any perceived advantages elsewhere can be offset against the savings available within the benefits scheme. It may not always be necessary to make up all of the difference to a better rate elsewhere – we’ve heard of members with a ‘mortgage tolerance’ of £20pm, or others who would only cross the ‘hassle threshold’ of switching for a certain monthly gain. The value available through benefits can help to keep them under that threshold.
Improved CRM systems are enabling more effective use of data and segmentation. This can help to identify members approaching a point of vulnerability – e.g. product maturity. Promoting valuable benefits at anticipated points of vulnerability, should positively impact their decisions.
More strategically, in light of the current cost of living crisis, offering benefits such as described, including to the most vulnerable individuals above, could provide additional evidence to support the FCA’s expectation that ‘firms should be stepping up now to support customers in these straitened times’. They also demonstrate fair value in line with the requirements of the Consumer Duty.
Overall, this is a natural extension for building societies, an additional step in providing appropriate and relevant support to help their members, along with the opportunity to support wider CSR goals. And further differentiating mutuals from their plc competitors.
Contact Andrew Holden andrew@parliament-hill.co.uk. Visit Parliament Hill parliament-hill. co.uk/membership-engagement
This article was first published in Society Matters magazine at the end of September 2023
Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgages and Housing at the BSA, comments on the MPC's decision to cut the Bank Rate