"Their ability to react quickly to market conditions through the incorporation of flexible and adaptable lending approaches positions them to deliver innovative products and criteria which make them stand out in current economic climate."
Building Societies have long been woven into the fabric of communities up and down the UK and have been servicing a variety of financial needs for over 250 years. As you can imagine, lending approaches have evolved massively over time but one thing has remained constant in that ownership is still retained by members and any profits made are always reinvested into the business to service the needs of savers and borrowers. This can sometimes lead to them being tarnished with an old-fashioned brush but this is far from the truth.
Many of these institutions are true pioneers within the modern mortgage market. Their ability to react quickly to market conditions through the incorporation of flexible and adaptable lending approaches positions them to deliver innovative products and criteria which make them stand out in current economic climate.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen Yorkshire Building Society launch a £5k deposit mortgage product that can be used on homes worth up to £500,000, effectively providing a 99% LTV loan. This follows Skipton Building Society introducing a 100% LTV Track Record mortgage aimed at tenants with at least a 12-month history of paying rent on time.
These are just two of the higher profile examples of how this sector continues to push the lending envelope, and there are many more leading propositions emerging from across the building society sector incorporating complex products including, self-build, joint borrower sole proprietor (JBSP), buy-to-let, retirement interest-only, right to buy, holiday lets, mortgages for expats and even semi-commercial, amongst others. Specialism and expertise which is attracting the attention of a growing proportion of the intermediary community.
This extensive product list demonstrates how building societies are successfully adapting to evolving consumer behaviours and taking advantage of intermediary channels to open the doors to more borrowers across the UK, whilst still being able to control volume and maintain service standards.
Technology will play a key role in maintaining this balance and there are tech partners, such as OMS, who are dedicated to assisting societies in enhancing member experiences and aligning with member expectations through collaboration.
Our mission is to support building societies in the transformation programme to become a modern mutual by providing advanced technology to achieve lending goals, boost efficiency, mitigate risk, and cater to a new generation of customer and their membership.
Building on our success in the intermediary sector, we have taken a significant step forward, creating an all-encompassing mortgage origination platform that puts the lender in charge throughout the whole journey. This comes via streamlining the whole end-to-end origination journey for both the intermediary and direct submission route to deliver unparalleled processing capability, keeping all parties informed throughout the entire process. A customisable dashboard allows lenders to create efficient workflows, so that they can meet members needs without lengthy development times or cost, as well as intermediary portals for online registration & submission. It’s all about delivering the right customer-centric experience by utilising the latest technology for end-to-end efficiency.
As building societies continue to embark on their own modernisation journey, the right tech provider will be able to assist them on their journey by drawing lessons from those who have gone before and mitigating risks through experienced delivery partnerships. Technology is the catalyst for building societies to further streamline their propositions, improve the personalisation process whilst providing the perfect platform to develop tailored & innovative products, in order to offer exceptional service – the core benefits of mutuality.
