Building Societies Association’s Post

Helping first-time buyers overcome the challenges they face in buying their first home has been a key topic of discussion over the past few months, and featured prominently in political party manifestos in the lead up to the General Election. Peter O'Connor CEO of Target Group spoke at a FTB panel session at the Building Societies Conference, and here he takes a more in-depth look at the key factors contributing to the challenges and highlights potential solutions. The Conference session highlighted some targeted areas for improvement, such as the work that Leeds Building Society is doing with Experian to help people build up a good credit score, the potential wider return of 100% mortgages, initiatives such as shared ownership to help people access affordable homes, and incentivisations for older people to move into smaller homes. #mortgages #firsttimebuyers #BuildingSocieties Find out more - https://lnkd.in/gqENaF57

Great teamwork from all involved to highlight the positive story around the importance of building a savings habit, no matter how small it starts Yorkshire Building Society Be Broadcast

We all know that having a pot of savings to fall back on can lead to reduced stress when something unexpected happens. But a new report from UK Savings Week shows that having even a small amount of savings helps people escape the vicious cycle of poor financial and mental wellbeing.   Researchers from the Personal Finance Research Centre, tracked people’s savings over a 10 year period and found: - Those who saved regularly were 66% more likely to have high life satisfaction, such as being more optimistic about the future and an ability to relax and sleep better at night, than a non-saver. - A person who saved occasionally was 34% more likely to have high life satisfaction than a non-saver. - Those on the lowest incomes get the biggest benefits of putting a little aside, with 53% of savers in these groups satisfied with their life, compared to 40% of low-income non-savers. The #uksavingsweek campaign, which runs from the 9-15 September this year, encourages organisations to promote the benefits of having and actively managing savings. We hope that more organisations will engage with the campaign this year to help achieve the ambition of improving the nation’s savings habits – as well as individual wellbeing! https://lnkd.in/gvCagThY #savingsgoals #savings #wellbeing Yorkshire Building Society

We are delighted to see the new Government set out its plan to get Britain #building again. To address the housing crisis we have long argued for a coherent plan to build more homes across all tenures, enabling diversity of supply including SME and self and custom builders, as well as delivering the necessary infrastructure. We welcome the joined up approach that the new Government is taking, with the HM Treasury and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities working together on a proper strategic plan. Building societies and credit unions look forward to working with the Government to help more people buy a home of their own.  #housing #housebuilding #MarchoftheMutuals #BuildingSocieties #CreditUnions

The BSA, along with other mutual trade bodies Co-operatives UK, Association of Financial Mutuals and Association of British Credit Unions, have written to the new Prime Minister offering the support of the sector to help deliver #growth and #sustainable benefits to wider #society. We look forward to working together with the new Government to deliver the Labour Party Manifesto commitment to double the size of the mutual and co-operative sector - we are united in this ambition and have clear policy priorities for unlocking it. We are inviting the Prime Minister to work with us to: - Create an environment that places mutuals and co-operatives at the heart of his Government’s policy thinking and economic strategy, supporting the growth of the mutual sector - Deliver a legislative and regulatory framework that enables mutuals and co-operatives to meet the needs of the communities they serve and compete fairly with other businesses - Unlock new capital raising options for new and growing mutuals and co-operatives #MarchoftheMutuals #buildingsocieties #creditunions #cooperatives https://lnkd.in/ebzTEN8k

In his latest article, Robin Fieth reflects on the sector's journey during his 11 year tenure as Chief Executive of the BSA, highlighting some impressive sector statistics over that time that demonstrate the sector's commitment to helping members buy their own homes, increase their financial resilience and provide access to cash in their branches: - Building societies have grown their share of the #mortgage market from 19% to 23%.   - They have helped almost a million people fulfil their dream of owning their first home.  - They have paid £9 billion more in interest to their members than they would have got from high street banks.  - They have continued to support our towns and communities, increasing their share of high street presence from 15% to 28% Robin also debates the challenges in tackling #FinancialInclusion and raises the point that it is often those towards the margins of the financial inclusion / exclusion boundary that are most adversely impacted by regulatory clamp-downs and reductions in risk appetite, however well-intentioned they are. #MarchoftheMutuals #mortgages #savings #accesstocash

The BSA’s partnership with Plain Numbers is driven by a shared drive to enable people to make informed decisions about their finances. They are helping a number of our building society members to look afresh at customer communications with this goal in mind. The 'Plain Numbers in Practice' report shares some really useful case studies and demonstrates the importance of communicating numbers clearly #PlainNumbers #CommunicatingClearly #BuildingSocieties #MutualsinAction

Building societies have consistently demonstrated their value in the UK’s mortgage market, standing out as leaders in broker satisfaction and customer service. In our latest guest blog, Smart Money People's Jess Rushton highlights how building societies have once again outperformed others in the 12th edition of the Mortgage Lender Benchmark, even eclipsing the high satisfaction levels recorded in the first half of 2023 - https://lnkd.in/ed9gDw4k #MLBH124 #mortgages #brokers #BuildingSocieties #MarchoftheMutuals