The lender recorded £123 million of completions last year which compared to £115 million in 2019 whilst experience 9% growth to take its mortgage book to £568 million (£523 million in 2019).
Of the £45 million growth in mortgage assets, 92% of these applications came from intermediary partners who, Ipswich said, remained a vital and valued part of Ipswich Building Society’s mortgage business.
The Society also widened and refocused its intermediary distribution channels by forging new relationships with network partners during the year and as such, the new business pipeline at the close of the new financial year was at 65% higher than the previous year.
Alan Harris, chairman of Ipswich Building Society, said it hadn’t been plain sailing throughout the year, admitting that after a strong start to mortgage performance there was a fall in applications during the early stages of the pandemic.
“The majority of our mortgage growth,” he said, “was the result of a very buoyant property market following the lifting of the first lockdown restrictions and the introduction of the stamp duty holiday.
“We carefully managed product offerings to ensure we were able to operationally manage the level of business received and to ensure service levels remained acceptable.”
The Society also assisted with 572 payment deferral applications as a result of the Financial Conduct Authority’s new measures to provide support for those whose finances have been affected by the pandemic.
Looking ahead to 2021, the Society said it would continue its work to launch a new mortgage origination system.
Savings
When it came to retail savings, there was significant growth by £21 million with 3,017 new accounts opened.
Ipswich said total membership now stood at 68,668, although net new accounts for the year were negative due to the maturity of the first Child Trust Funds and members withdrawing funds to see them through the pandemic.
The building society said its branched remained operational during the year and 2021 would see the work begin on a project to provide digital online savings to complement its branch network.
Harris added: “In such a difficult year it has been absolutely right that we maintained a focus on governance, operational resilience and sound management.
“We adopted procedures and found new ways of working together and the Society’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF) has been an immense asset as we acted in response to the requirements of both of our regulators and to the pandemic itself.
“We are firmly committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Society and remain dedicated to maintaining the Society as a mutual.
“In fact, whilst Covid-19 has changed virtually everything for our members, partners, staff and communities, my final reflection on the year is that the long-established mutual model, as represented here at the Ipswich, has shone through in the extraordinary time of the pandemic.”
