"The huge 250-year milestone got us thinking about how we present our offer to brokers and the wider market."
FR: What do you see as the role of the building society in the 21st century?
While a lot has changed in the last 250 years, the guiding principles of the building society remain the same. The part we play in helping people overcome financial challenges, and achieve their homeowning dreams, is as vital as ever.
Building Societies Association figures show that in the six months to September 2024, building societies grew mortgage balances by almost £12bn, accounting for 72% of all UK mortgage growth during that time.
Collectively, we helped more than 63,000 first-time buyers onto the property ladder in those six months, using increasingly innovative methods to keep this integral part of the market moving.
FR: What’s the focus for Buckinghamshire Building Society in 2025?
We’ve invested a lot of time and effort into reviewing our product range to make sure our mortgages reflect the difficulties buyers and homeowners are facing today.
We’ve adjusted criteria, reduced fees, launched new products, and entered into new areas of lending.
While that will always be a fluid process, the huge 250-year milestone got us thinking about how we present our offer to brokers and the wider market.
Particularly when you adopt a crafted lending approach, and assess cases on an individual basis, it can be difficult to articulate who we help and how.
For that reason, we’re highlighting four key areas of focus.
FR: Can you give us an overview of these four key areas of lending?
The four areas are across residential mortgages and are designed to make buying or refinancing a home as accessible as possible.
First-time buyers
First-time buyers have been struggling with deposits and struggling with affordability for some time and this year’s changes to stamp duty will come as another blow. According to Hamptons, it’s expected to triple the amount of first-time buyers who have to pay the charge.
We’re here for people who have no deposits, or limited deposits, those whose extended family have offered to help them with the deposit, either by gifting cash, or leveraging their own property. Also for buyers who are struggling with affordability, perhaps because of their employment situation or a change in relationship status, for example.
Our solutions for first-time buyers include 95% mortgages, JBSP, Deposit Lite and JBSP Deposit Lite.
Non-standard income
People’s employment situations don’t always fit into neat little boxes either and we’ve seen this mix of employment types increasing as people have sought additional income streams due to the cost of living crisis. We are increasingly faced with second jobs, side hustles, contractors, agency work, car and town allowances etc. But none of these should prevent people from securing or refinancing a mortgage.
Because all of our cases are underwritten manually, and we generally have more flexibility in our approach, we can offer a more flexible income solution. It means we can often provide the answer when someone’s job doesn’t tick the usual lender boxes.
Credit Revive and Credit Restore
These two areas go hand in hand and recognise that strained household incomes have led to an increase in credit issues, and therefore more complex cases.
Over the last year, we have seen an increase in applications for impaired credit, for example, and debt consolidation is the most common reason for remortgage capital raising.
Credit Revive and Credit Restore are therefore focused on not only providing a solution for people with past credit issues, but also in helping them to rebuild their credit profile.
This includes people whose borrowing choices are limited due to minor historic credit blips or where there have been credit challenges due to a life event. By adopting a common sense and customised approach, we can assess each case on its merits, even when it doesn’t fit a specific mould.
FR: Can you offer a key takeaway for brokers?
Building societies continue to play a vital role in supporting homebuyers, particularly those with unique financial circumstances, and our approach highlights the importance of flexible, tailored lending solutions - from assisting first-time buyers with affordability challenges to accommodating non-standard incomes and helping clients rebuild credit.
For brokers, understanding and leveraging these bespoke lending options can create more pathways to homeownership for clients who may struggle to meet traditional high-street lending criteria.
