The group’s gross lending hit £2.5bn which is some 43% higher than the same period in 2018.
The Skipton Building Society has seen its mortgage balances grow by 6% since the end of 2018 with the group's gross lending hitting £2.5bn.
As such group lending was 43% higher than the same period in 2018.
In total the Skipton helped 14,641 homeowners to purchase or remortgage their properties. This included 2,640 first-time buyers and 4,619 buy-to-let borrowers.
David Cutter, Skipton’s Group chief executive, said:“I’m pleased to report a further increase in the Society’s membership, and strong growth in both mortgage and savings balances. Profitability remains good but the decline in net interest margin is reflective of intense competition in the mortgage market, and more latterly in the savings market.
The figures also show that the Skipton is doing well on the arrears front. Its residential mortgages in arrears by three months or more represent 0.21% of mortgage accounts - well below the industry average of 0.78%
Elsewhere the Group’s estate agency division reported a drop in profits.Connells reported profits before tax of £26.2m down from £28.9m in the same period in 2018.
The number of house sales (exchanges) arranged by Connells in the period was 8% below the comparative period in 2018.
Cutter added: "[The] 8% reduction in house sales reported by Connells estate agency is reflective of a subdued housing market, but the diversification and resilience of Skipton’s business model has contributed to a further improvement in the Society’s very strong capital ratios.”
Back in March the society raised £600m of wholesale funding through a covered bond transaction.
