Expert: Building societies often offer best mortgage deals

Building societies offer higher levels of customer service than banks for consumers looking for the best mortgage deals, an industry expert has said.

Neil Johnson, the PR and policy manager at the Building Societies Association (BSA), explained that building societies were traditionally "very good at keeping hold of their customers" and said this was often because they offered the best mortgage deals.

Reports have suggested that building societies saw an upsurge in business in September, possibly as a result of the Northern Rock crisis.

"Building societies offer far higher levels of service. Their whole purpose is to make sure that they give their members a good level of service and a competitive product," Mr Johnson explained.

"Building societies are always towards the top [of the table] when it comes to offering the best savings products and mortgages. Of the top 250 mortgage providers, 70 per cent were from building societies."

Recently, the BSA reported that it had seen an increase in mortgage lending from its members.

Adrian Coles, director general of the organisation, commented: "Although building society lending in October was greater than in previous months, activity is still subdued in comparison to last year.

"The mortgage market looks set to cool further as the impact of the higher interest rates and tighter credit conditions more generally continue to feed through."

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