At the same time the society upped its underlying pre-tax profits by 14% to 8.8m and its gross residential lending by 18% to £837m.
West Brom Building Society increased its first-time buyer lending by 59% to £265m in the year to 31 March 2018.
At the same time the society upped its underlying pre-tax profits by 14% to 8.8m and its gross residential lending by 18% to £837m.
Jonathan Westhoff, chief executive of West Brom, said: “Pivotal to the West Brom’s success is our focus on lending to customers to support their plans for home ownership, which has grown for the fifth year in succession.
“We have responded to customer demand to assist first time buyers by increasing our maximum loan-to-value ratio to 95%.
“We also added a government-backed Help to Buy ISA account to our savings portfolio for those who want to buy their own home but still need time to raise a deposit.
“With the society’s new lending to first time buyers now at record levels, our commitment to this market sector is clear to see.”
Westhoff targeted improving the society’s use of IT in the years ahead.
He added: “New technology and the drive to digitalisation must be firmly on our radar.
“This is a challenge we are already responding to so that our overall proposition continues to meet the needs of our members, both present and future.”
The West Brom is the UK’s seventh largest building society, with 37 branches and around 434,000 members.
