Leeds BS Building Society
This society started life in 1875 as the Leeds and Holbeck and should not be confused with the previous Leeds Building Society which merged with the Halifax in August 1995. Leeds and Holbeck shortened their name for the sake of simplicity. The society is currently the 5th largest in the UK with a net annual income of £30.9 million and total assets in excess of £9.5 billion. It has in recent years been voted “Best Building Society” by the readers of Mortgage Magazine.
The Leeds is fully committed to retaining its status as a mutual building society owned and operated for the benefit of its members. The society has put into place a system whereby “Carpetbaggers” cannot force the society into becoming a corporate entity and reap a form of windfall profits. This has not reduced membership and the society has continued to grow. They did not suffer unduly from the world-wide financial crisis, although net profit did fall slightly in the last year.
The Leeds offers a full range of financial services as well as the traditional lending for home buyers. They have savings arrangements, offer a credit card, give insurance and financial advice as well as owning a travel agency subsidiary.
The Leeds has a wide range of mortgage products including offset mortgages. In these arrangements the borrower deposits his savings with the lender. Instead of interest on the savings being paid to the lender, it used to offset and reduce the capital amount of the mortgage loan. Not only is this very tax efficient, it can save the borrower thousands of pounds on the interest of the mortgage over the long term.
The building society has all of the usual fixed term, discounted and variable rate mortgages. They also offer loans with interest rates tracking the Bank of England base rate. Added to the range are buy to let loans and unusually, self-build loans at very reasonable rates with a 75% loan to value ratio.
Leeds Building Society are one of the biggest mortgage lenders operating in the UK. They are a full service and full range lender and are committed to the mutual society concept, which they believe will give a better deal to their members.