Building societies mortgage lending: balances outstanding in the UK 2017-2022

Building societies, unlike banks, are not listed on the stock market and thus, don't have external shareholders. Instead, the shareholders and decision makers of building societies are the investing members. Building societies offer many traditional banking products and financial services such as mortgage lending, savings, and current accounts. In September 2022, the value of mortgages outstanding by building societies amounted to approximately 367 billion British pounds.

Mortgage lending by building societies in the United Kingdom (UK)

After a year of lower lending activity due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, in March 2021, the monthly value of residential mortgage lending by building societies in the UK reached record high levels. The fluctuation in lending can also be seen in the number of mortgage loan approvals.

Mortgage lending in the UK

The UK is one of the biggest residential mortgage markets in Europe, worth almost 1.7 trillion euros. Building societies rank among the largest mortgage lenders by market share together with the leading UK banks. In 2019, the largest building society and second largest lender in the UK was Nationwide BS.