In the ever-fluctuating realm of mortgage lending, 2023 stood out as a particularly challenging year, marked by economic uncertainties and shifting market dynamics. Despite these turbulent times, our Home Financing Team at Skipton Building Society for Intermediaries pulled together and demonstrated resilience and adaptability, not just weathering the storm but thriving amidst the chaos.
Our strategic approaches and unwavering commitment to our members and brokers enabled us to navigate through the complexities of the year, culminating in remarkable success and growth in a market that tested even the most seasoned players. This journey of overcoming obstacles and capitalising on opportunities is testament to our teams’ expertise and the robustness of our business model, positioning us as a beacon of stability and innovation in the mortgage lending industry.
The outstanding highlights of our 2023 year below are a direct result of us being flexible and adaptable with our product offerings driving both retention and new business. Having a strong emphasis on customer service. Developing strategic relationships with distributors and mortgage brokers. Effective targeted marketing, leveraging data analytics. And last but not least, embracing innovation and being brave, particularly in digital processes and product development. This list is not exhaustive, but it highlights some key areas of focus which not only helped us navigate the challenging environment but also led to a remarkable year of growth.
2023, A Year of Growth
- We grew our lending and market share in a contracted market.
- We helped over 17,000 first-time buyers buy their first home.
- We launched 2,026 mortgage products, that’s 48% more than in 2022.
- We had our largest ever day of applications.
- Successfully launched our innovative Track Record proposition which goes up to 100% LTV and is aimed at renters stuck in the rental cycle.
2023, Making Mortgages Easier
- Highest ever numbers of customers passed auto income verification.
- 29% of all offers in 2023 were issued within 5 days.
- On fully packaged applications our average time to underwrite was 2.8 days.
- 32% of applications used an AVM.
- Our average time to offer on cases with an AVM was 7 days.
- Our average time to offer in 2023 was 9 days.
- We issued 1,154 day 1 offers.
- Handled 478,211 calls and 154,811 web chats, totalling 633,022 contacts.
- Answered 91% of contacts within 5 minutes, with our average speed being 1 minute and 20 seconds.
At Skipton we’re committed to providing a great service for your clients again in 2024 as we fine tune our proposition further. If you want a reliable and efficient service for your customers in 2024… think Skipton!