Chelsea BS Building Society

The Chelsea building society was first formed in 1875 and has been merged with several other building societies since then. It mostly operated in the South of England with its core business being in the South East. In April 2010 the society merged with the Yorkshire Building Society but still operates a separate chain of branches and has its own branded mortgage and savings products.

The Chelsea prides itself in maintain the best practices of the building society movement. Customer service is high on its list of priorities and it just as keen to help existing members as it is to speak to new borrowers. The society offers a range of savings and insurance products and has a conveyancing service.

The society offers a full range of mortgages from first timer to re-mortgaging and movers. Within these offerings there are fixed rates of up to ten years with very competitive interest rates, rates that track Bank of England base rate and discounted variable rates. The society also offers a range of discount mortgages where the interest that would accrue on the borrower’s savings is used to decrease the capital amount of the loan. These arrangements can be very tax efficient and save the borrower thousands of pounds on the total cost of the house loan.

The society does offer buy to let mortgages but only through independent financial advisers. This reflects the society’s concerns that many buy to let investments have gone badly wrong during the current economic downturn and that special qualified advice is needed before a member enters into such arrangement.

The Chelsea accepts applications on-line which reflects the way that it has embraced modern technology. Applications can also be made through branches or a mortgage broker.

The Chelsea is committed to the building societies ethic and is extremely customer friendly. The have competitive domestic mortgage rates and offer a full service to borrowers whether they be first time or existing members of the society.