Net lending was 79% higher at £311m (£174m, 30 June 2011) and savings balances grew by £189m (£127m, 30 June 2011) to a record £7.54bn.
The mutual attracted 32,800 new members taking total membership to 696,000.
Pre-tax profit increased in the first half of 2012 to £27.1m from £26.9m at 30 June 2011.
Capital and reserves rose to a record £598m from £553m a year ago while the mutual’s wholesale funding ratio was 19.0% compared to 18.5% as at 30 June 2011.
Leeds chief executive Peter Hill said: “Leeds Building Society continues to grow market share in its core markets of mortgages and savings and has delivered another strong set of results for the first half of 2012.
“New loans rose to £769m, which represents double our market share. Over a quarter of these mortgages have helped almost 2,500 first-time-buyers purchase their first home. This increased lending confirms our commitment to supporting the UK housing market and the wider economy.
“The average loan-to-value (LTV) on new lending was only 55%. We will continue to be very active in the mortgage market and focus on providing finance that will help borrowers achieve their home-ownership aspirations across a range of product areas.
“Our very strong lending was possible because of our ability to attract retail deposits, which grew by £189m (£127m, 30 June 2011).
“Savers were attracted by the security and value we provide, and this half year performance is significantly above our market share. Furthermore, this success means that all of the Society’s residential mortgage balances are funded entirely by retail deposits.”
During the first half of 2012 Leeds raised £375m of longer term wholesale funding taking the proportion of its wholesale funding, which has more than one year to maturity, to over 70%.
Hill added: “We continue to focus on efficiency, which is demonstrated by our excellent cost ratios. Our cost income ratio increased slightly to 33%, from 31%, as did the cost asset ratio, from 47p per £100 of assets to 48p, as we invest in the business. These remain very favourable when compared to the average of the major building societies.
“Britain is in the longest double-dip recession for more than 50 years and, combined with considerable uncertainty throughout the Euro-zone, the economic climate remains challenging.
“This continues to put pressure on household budgets and we work closely with borrowers experiencing financial difficulty to provide forbearance support where appropriate.
“Despite the difficult climate, our residential arrears (1.5% or more of outstanding mortgage balances) have reduced to 2.76% (3.12%, 30 June 2011).
“The charge for impairment losses and provisions for commercial and residential property reduced by £3.3m to £19.9m in the first half of 2012 (£23.2m, 30 June 2011), with total mortgage provisions increasing to £91m at 30 June 2012 from £79m at 30 June 2011.
“We no longer have any Treasury or Sovereign debt exposure to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece or Spain.
”We continue to focus on personal service and meeting the needs of a wide range of members. Our ability to attract funding gives us the capacity to offer mortgages to more and more people, including first-time-buyers.”
