Its total assets also grew by 4%, to reach £4.1bn while the group pre-tax profit was £11.8m, down £2.7m (19%) on 2017.
Nottingham Building Society reported its mortgage lending exceeded £800m in 2018, equating to mortgage book growth of 4%.
Its total assets also grew by 4%, to reach £4.1bn while the group pre-tax profit was £11.8m, down £2.7m (19%) on 2017.
Nikki Warren-Dean, head of intermediary sales atThe Nottingham for Intermediaries, said: “Our mortgage book growing by 4% and mortgage lending exceeding £800m in 2018, were key financial highlights for the Group as a whole and a proud moment for The Nottingham for Intermediaries.”
“This success was bolstered by maintaining some of the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry, a demonstration of us retaining our high standards as we grow. Our low arrears levels are a great indication that our lending criteria is stringent while working for our customers.”
“We will continue to strive to deliver products and services built around the needs of the modern-day consumer.
“We have already launched retirement interest-only (RIO) mortgages to our portfolio and raised the maximum lending amount for 95% LTV mortgages from £275,000 to £500,000.
“There are more exciting announcements to come and we’re really excited to share news of our forthcoming new-look portal with enhanced functionality to the broker community.”
Last year The Nottingham introduced high definition video across its branch network that provides customers with on-demand broker and mortgage advice via a team of Nottingham Mortgage Services (NMS) advisers based at head office.
David Marlow, The Nottingham’s chief executive officer, added: “We believe that investing in our digital capabilities is the right approach to secure a sustainable future for the society, as we respond to significant shifts in customer behaviour and expectations.
“If we are to maintain our current standards and develop our proposition so that it remains relevant to existing and prospective new members, we must continue to invest in, and develop, the capability of the society.
“2019 will undoubtedly be a year of uncertainty for us all. It is at times like these that our mutual ethos serves us well, enabling us to continue to invest in the long-term success of the Society, despite short term market, economic and political uncertainties.”
The society maintained a customer satisfaction, net promoter, score of 79%, ahead of the financial services average of 49%.
The Nottingham was also announced as one of the firmswith the lowest level of complaints across the entire financial services industry in the first half of the year, according to official FCA figures.
Arrears levels remained below a quarter of the industry average, at approximately 42 accounts out of a total mortgage base of almost 26,000.
Over 30% of total mortgage business from existing NMS customers was remortgaging.
