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Nationwide dominates building society sector – KPMG

Adam Williams
Written By:
Adam Williams
Posted:
Updated:
13/09/2012

Nationwide continues to dominate the building society sector according to the latest KPMG Building Societies Database.

The report looked at the mutual sector in the UK and found that total assets in the sector had increased by 3% in the past year to £315.4bn. KPMG said the strong growth in the sector was primarily because of an increases in assets at Nationwide and Coventry.

47 mutuals now operate in the UK, one lower than last year, after the merger of Norwich & Peterborough BS into Yorkshire Building Scoiety.

Its report said: “As in recent years, due to its size, the performance of Nationwide impacts significantly on the performance of the sector as a whole. Nationwide continues to dominate the building societies sector with its asset growth representing 77% of the total sector growth for 2011/12.

“Nationwide’s total assets at April 2012 were £196.1bn, representing 62.2% of building society sector total assets.”

Nationwide remained the biggest mortgage lender in the sector with gross mortgage lending of £20.1bn, almost five times the size of nearest competitors Yorkshire and Coventry. Ranked by total loans on residential property, Skipton and Leeds were the fourth and fifth biggest lenders respectively.

Nationwide had the most mortgages in 12 months or more of arrears, with 2,793 customers customers falling behind significantly on their repayments.

Jon Hall, CEO of Saffron Building Society, commented: “The recent KPMG report revealing that Building Societies have an important role in the future of banking comes as no surprise.

“Our customer service feedback shows we are seen as trustworthy, reliable, and open and honest, with simple, easy to understand products; something that customers are currently struggling against with the banks.

“We value the role we play within the community and are committed to providing excellent service for our members and helping to build a future with our customers’ needs in mind.”