Teachers Building Society is reporting a 9.4% year on year mortgage growth in its financial results for 2020, despite the shocks of last year. The building society reported that its mortgage assets at the end of 2020 had reached £253m, up from £231m in 2019.
The society said that it had continued to help teachers onto the housing ladder throughout the pandemic. The mutual continued to provide mortgages at 90% LTV to teachers throughout, despite the majority of lenders withdrawing similar products.
In addition to mortgages for teachers, the Teachers Building Society continued lending to those with more complex borrowing needs, facilitating home purchases in a challenging environment for borrowers with atypical needs. The mutual also continued to offer a range of popular holiday let mortgages, supporting increased consumer demand for domestic travel as a result of the pandemic.
As a result, the Society achieved 9.4% growth in its mortgage book, supported by a 12.9% change in the funding balance. Consequently, the Society passed had total assets exceeding £300m for the first time in its 55-year history. Assets increased by 12% to £333m during the year, up from £297m in 2019.
Despite the challenges of operating in an unprecedented climate, the Society’s product and operating strategy resulted in an operating profit of £578k for the year, more than double the £249,000 reported in 2019. This can be attributed to improved net interest income driven by mortgage book growth, a substantial achievement given the economic circumstances. The Society’s gross capital ratio remained stable at 7.1%.
Teachers Building Society chief executive Simon Beresford said: “The positive determination of employees to adapt to working from the safety of home ensured the Society was able to continue supporting existing members and welcoming new members without interruption of service. Importantly, we ensured the teachers we were founded to serve continued to be able to borrow the funds needed to step onto the property ladder and benefit from exclusive savings rates. As a result, the Society has delivered a very strong set of results, surpassing an important milestone for total assets in the process. Our strategy for 2021 is to support even more teachers in taking their first steps on the property ladder, something we will achieve by welcoming more new savers and by expanding our mortgage lending to borrowers from other professions with more complex financial needs.”
