YBS said it provided 75,732 mortgages and a total of £10.3bn in new funding, of which 36% or £3.6bn was to first-time buyers.
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It reported that while the number of mortgage approvals fell in October, following the stamp duty holiday coming to an end in September, they grew again in November and December, and exceeded pre-pandemic averages.
The company also posted an increase in its core operating profit, making £297.3m in 2021 compared to £170.5m in the previous year. Its pre-tax profit nearly doubled from £161.3m to £320m, while saving balances also increased to a record £35.5bn.
“Our mutual model has helped us to deliver record savings and mortgage balances allowing us to both increase our savings rates and help a record number of first-time buyers,” Stephen White, YBS interim chief executive said.
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“The strength of our mortgage book has helped us to support borrowers facing serious financial difficulty and, at a time of rising house prices, release some of our provisions.
“Supporting our savers at a time of historically low interest rates has been a key commitment of ours and while the Bank of England increased the base rate to 0.25% in December last year, the first increase since August 2018, 2021 was another tough year for savers.
“To deliver value to members and ensure we share our success, we further increased our rates above the rest of the market average and rewarded our loyal members.”
