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.
Bank Rate cut to 4.75% but pace of rate cuts expected to moderate in wake of Budget
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
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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.
An introduction to treasury management (30th January 2025)
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
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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.
Figures published on 28 November 2024 show the building society sector continues to be the driving force behind the mortgage market. Their mortgage balances grew by £11.7 billion, accounting for 72% of the mortgage market growth during the period.
In the six months to September 2024 building societies:
Activity in the mortgage and housing markets has picked up over the past six months supported by strong wage growth, falling inflation and expectations that mortgage rates will continue to fall.
Figures published today (28 November 2024) show the building society sector continues to be the driving force behind the mortgage market. Their mortgage balances grew by £11.7 billion, accounting for 72% of the mortgage market growth during the period.
This follows 2023 where building societies were responsible for all the growth in the mortgage market, as overall mortgage balances at other lenders reduced in the year.
A thriving housing market is dependent on first-time buyers getting onto the property ladder. However, with rising house prices and interest rates considerably higher than they were three years ago, affordability is a significant barrier for many would-be homeowners.
Building societies’ focus on finding innovative solutions to support first-time buyers has enabled them to provide over 63,000 first-time buyer mortgages in the six months to September 2024. This accounted for almost half (44%) of all their residential owner-occupier lending.
In the six months to September 2024, building societies attracted £14.7 billion in cash savings, accounting for more than one-third (34%) of all savings. Savings balances at banks and other deposit takers increased by £27.7 billion in the same period.
Building societies hold 40% of all cash ISA balances, totalling £153.4 billion.
Building societies continue to offer competitive savings. In 2023 building society savers received £2.1 billion more in interest on their total savings than if they had been paid the average offered by large banks.
The building society sector is committed to supporting local communities. One example of how they do this is by retaining high street branches. Building societies current share of UK high street branches is 30%, double the proportion they had (14%) in 2013. No wonder 72% of building society customers said their provider is an important part of the community, compared to just 54% of bank customers.
Building societies performed better than banks on all measures of customer service. For example, 93% of building society customers agreed their provider offered good customer service, compared to 87% of bank customers. And 86% of customers said their building society offered competitive rates, compared to 73% of bank customers.
Building societies key statistics - April to September 2024
Notes on the data
Ends
Press contacts:
Tanya Jackson, tanya.jackson@bsa.org.uk
Katie Wise, katie.wise@bsa.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
The BSA represents all 42 building societies, as well as 7 larger credit unions. Building societies serve almost 26 million consumers across the UK and have total assets of almost £525 billion. Together with their subsidiaries, they hold residential mortgages of over £395 billion, representing 24% of total mortgage balances outstanding in the UK. They are also helping over 23 million people build their financial resilience, holding over £399 billion of retail savings, accounting for 19% of all cash savings in the UK. With all their headquarters outside London, building societies employ around 52,300 full and part-time staff. In addition to digital services they operate approximately 1,300 branches, holding a 30% share of branches across the UK.
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