Savings reach record August high

Building society gross advances amounted to £4,341m in August 2007, compared to £5,582m in August 2006, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA).

Net advances were £656m in August 2007, versus £2,190m in August 2006.

Approvals were £4,168m in August 2007 down from £5,540m in August 2006.

Building societies had net receipts of £1,389m in August 2007 compared to net receipts of £399m in August 2006.

Building society net receipts to cash ISAs were £124m in August 2007, compared to £150m in August 2006.

Commenting on the mortgage figures, Adrian Coles, Director-General of the BSA said: “These figures confirm the slowdown in building society lending over the summer, as a combination of higher interest rates and robust lending criteria continued to bite.”

Commenting on the savings figures, Mr. Coles said: “Building society net receipts in August were nearly double those in July. This is the highest August figure ever and the highest monthly figure since April 2005. We believe that successive increases in interest rates and subdued equity markets have encouraged savers to put more money away, and we expect this to continue while rates remain high and savers recognise the wide range of good value building society savings products available to them.”