West Brom to pass on rate rise in new year
The West Bromwich Building Society is set to pass on most of the recent rise in base interest rates by the Bank of England to its savers.
The society also plans to step up mortgage lending further to help more first-time buyers get on to the housing ladder.
The West Brom, the seventh biggest building society in the country, was back in pre-tax profit for its latest half year which saw new mortgage lending rise £37 million to £478m.
Chief executive Jonathan Westhoff said the society was also looking after its savers.
"we are starting to see things improve as interest rates edge up and we are passing on up to 0.25 per cent base points, depending on individual's circumstances, from the beginning of January.
He said it would help Black Country savers as more than two-thirds of the West Brom's 440,000 members with savings balances are in the West Midlands.
Mr Westhoff said the national drive to help first-time buyers fitted in with the society's purpose.
During the half year 28 per cent of all the society's new lending went to first-time buyers compared to 20 per cent a year before.
"The big idea is to get people in to the housing network and we are determined to support that," he explained.
The society's lending is across the country and Mr Westhoff said the focus for the next six months would continue to be on first-time buyers.
He said the West Brom was determined not to let talk about the impact of Brexit on the economy hold back lending to them.
"The one thing we don't want to do is to re-trench in fear of what may be. We are here to carry on providing members with what they need from us and not getting distracted by the bigger geo-political situation going on around us," he added.
The society is also investing in technology to enable it to start looking at other needs of member borrowers including those looking to shared ownership and borrowing for retirement.
Mr Westhoff said cyber crime was also an issue and it would help make customers' money even safer.
The society, founded in 1849, made a pre-tax profit of £4.2m in the six months to the end of September following a loss of £23.7m in the first half of its 2015-2016 financial year.
Mr Westhoff said the society, which employs just over 750 across its network of 37 branches, was back on track.
"It is very satisfactory to say that we have maintained our focus on growing the building society to look after those who are our traditional customers who want to have a home and savers who want to see they get a consistent return on their money and are well looked after," he added.
