This compares to a core operating profit of £170.5m in 2020.

The lender adds that it extended 75,732 mortgages in 2021 compared to 72,172 in 2020, at a total of £10.3bn in new funding – £3.6bn of which went to first-time buyers.

This helped mortgage balances rise to £41.9bn in 2021 from £38.8bn, which is the highest in YBS’s history.

It says that mortgage approvals fell in October after the stamp duty holiday ended, but recovered to above pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year.

YBS interim chief executive Stephen White says: “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.

“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.

“At the same time, the ongoing work to improve the efficiency of the Society and reduce cost alongside good commercial judgments and disciplines has meant that core operating profit increased to £297.3m, allowing us in turn to increase our capital and reserves and reinvest for the long term.

“All of this has only been possible because of the hard work and dedication of our highly engaged colleagues and I’m extremely proud and grateful to each and every one of them. They have worked tirelessly in 2021 to meet every challenge and support our customers and their resilience has once again been outstanding.”