Record half year savings for societies

Building societies' excellent performance in the savings market for the first half of 2008 saw them achieving record savings inflows of £6,296 million compared to just £3,862 million in the first six months of 2007.

Savers have been taking advantage of the excellent interest rates and products that societies offer, viewing them as tried and trusted compared to other, more volatile, investment opportunities.

Commenting on the figure, Adrian Coles, Director General of the BSA commented: "With an uncertain economic outlook and stock market turbulence, savers are wisely viewing building societies as excellent homes for their money. The excellent products and trusted brand names of building societies mean that savers know that societies are the place for their savings when times are uncertain."

Turning to the mortgage market, Mr. Coles said: "Net lending for societies was down from £8,429 million in the first six months of 2007 to £3,448 million in the equivalent period of 2008. It is no surprise that the lending figures for societies are so low. This reflects the depressed state of the housing market.

"Many societies have chosen to follow a conservative lending policy to ensure that they maintain the high quality of their loan books."

Building Society Statistics June 2008

Building societies had net receipts of £419 million in June 2008 compared with £576 million in June 2007.

Building society net receipts to cash ISAs in June 2008 were provisionally estimated £74 million compared with £309 million in June 2007.

Building society gross lending amounted to £2,985 million in June 2008 compared with £4,653 million in June 2007.

Net lending by building societies in June 2008 was -£526 million compared to £1,320 million in June 2007.

Approvals in June 2008 were £2,590 million compared with £4,068 million in June 2007.