The mutual provided 25,000 new residential mortgages, down from the same period last year when it provided 27,000. However, mortgage balances increased to £43.3bn, up from £41.9bn six months prior.

Yorkshire Building Society reported core operating profit of £192.5m, up from £134.9m on June 30, 2021.

Alasdair Lenman, interim chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “The Yorkshire Building Society delivered a balanced and positive set of results in the first half of 2022.

“Our simple and resilient business model has continued to perform well, even though volatility in the external environment remains elevated, with a significant increase in inflation, rising interest rates and the conflict in Ukraine.”

The mutual said it paid 0.38 per cent above the market average to savers, delivering an additional £44m of interest to them. Saving balances increased to a record £37.7bn, up from £35.5bn on December 31, 2021.

Mr Lenman said: “Good levels of profitability have enabled us to further increase our average savings differential to the market, from 0.32 per cent in 2021 to 0.38 per cent in the first half of 2022 whilst still generating the capital we need to support strong net lending of £2.1bn and accelerating our investment in our digital transformation programme.

“Our strong net lending has been matched by our savings book growth and we have seen further reductions in the arrears rates on our lending.

“As a result, our key capital and liquidity ratios have remained stable and we are well positioned to manage the wider economic risks from inflation and falling GDP growth that lie ahead.”

“Helping our customers and members – Real Help with Real Lives - is our enduring purpose and we remain committed to helping people to have a place to call home, supporting people toward greater financial wellbeing and delivering value to our members over the long term.

“Our strategy of pursuing our purpose through the digital transformation of the Society, continuing to simplify our core business and extending the reach of our range of mortgage propositions continues to be both relevant and successful.

“I’m particularly pleased with our support for first-time buyers and the investment we have made to improve our speed-to-market which in turn allows us to respond more rapidly to changing market conditions.

“The rapidly changing market and the success of our savings propositions have led to some significant spikes in demand which have meant that some of our service levels and our colleagues have been under pressure during the first half of 2022.

“Our strategy will enable us to continue to invest in improving our processes and customer experience which will benefit both members and colleagues.

“The Bank of England increased Bank Rate to 0.25 per cent in December last year and since then, it has been further increased to 1.25 per cent.

“Supporting savers remains a key commitment of Yorkshire Building Society as well as delivering value to members. That’s why we further increased our savings rates above the rest of the market average and rewarded our loyal members.”

How Yorkshire Building Society has seen its mortgage balances rise to a record £43.3bn