Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Solutions. Read the original article for full details.

YBS Mortgage Lending Rises 7% to £4.6bn Despite Subdued Market

Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) reported a 6.98% increase in gross mortgage lending to £4.6 billion in the first half of 2026, up from £4.3 billion in the same period last year. The mutual attributed this growth to maintaining pricing discipline in a competitive and uncertain market.

YBS’s overall mortgage balances grew to £52.3 billion, compared to £51.9 billion in 2025. However, the growth rate of mortgage balances slowed to 0.8%, down from 1.7% in the first half of 2025. The society provided 19,300 new residential mortgages in H1 2026, an increase from 18,000 in the previous year. Of these, 5,600 mortgages were issued to first-time buyers, up from 4,500 last year.

YBS described the UK mortgage market in the first half of 2026 as “subdued”, citing affordability pressures and market uncertainty. The society noted that market volatility led to sharp increases in demand for its mortgage products at certain points, including recording its busiest day for mortgage applications in March.

The impairment charge on financial assets rose to £23.7 million, compared to £2 million in the same period last year. The proportion of the mortgage portfolio classed as Stage 2, where credit risk has increased significantly since origination, increased to 7.6% from 5.9% at the end of 2025.

Net interest income fell to £418.8 million from £429.6 million a year earlier, and the net interest margin narrowed to 1.25%, down by 0.06 percentage points. YBS attributed this to a lower bank rate and continued pressure on margins from competition.

These results may be of interest to UK letting agents and inventory clerks monitoring lending trends, first-time buyer activity, and market conditions affecting property transactions.