Skipton Group reports signs of improvement in the UK housing market over first half of year

Over the last half year, Skipton, which now has 1.17m members, reported a group profit before tax (PBT) of £148.9m, compared with £160m in the same period last year.

In May, Skipton launched its fixed rate, zero deposit Track Record mortgage which aims to helped people paying expensive rents get their own home.

Mr Haire said: “In my first six months leading the business we’ve created a unified group focused on three core divisions – Homes, Estate Agency, and Money.

"The attractiveness of our approach has accelerated growth in membership and we’ve seen market share gains with mortgage advances growing 27 per cent year-on-year, and us helping 43 per cent more first-time buyers.

“Skipton Group includes the UK’s largest estate agency, which gives us unique insight into the housing market. Despite the challenging headwinds, we’ve seen positive signs of improvement in the first half of the year as the housing market stabilises.

"Home buyers remain active but are exercising caution, with many adjusting their property expectations and their approach to financing while continuing to search for a home. The ambition to own a home remains strong, with the proportion of UK house sales going to first-time buyers at a record high.

He added: “The economic environment remains challenging. It’s why we passed on only one third of the 1.5 per cent rise in base rates in the period to borrowers, maintaining one of the lowest mortgage reversion rates in the market. And we introduced our new Track Record mortgage to address an under-served part of the market.

"The value of this product has been clearly demonstrated, with applications totalling over £28m since its launch in May.

"In offering very competitive savings products, including a market-leading 7.5 per cent regular saver account to members, in the first five months of the year we paid 0.61 per cent above the market-average to savers; passing on 75 per cent of the rise in base rate.

"This equates to an extra £57.5m in our members’ pockets. We will continue to introduce products that help improve financial wellbeing and allow all our members to have free access to financial advice.”

In a statement to accompany the results, Skipton said it believed the housing market should be viewed over the long term.

Skipton said it had seen some volatility in pricing and demand during the pandemic and since interest rates started to rise.

The Skipton added: “Home ownership aspirations remain and the UK continues to have a supply shortfall, therefore the UK housing market continues to be an attractive proposition.”