Newcastle Building Society said its savings balances grew by £458 million to £4.7 billion in the first half of 2023, while profit before taxation rose to £16.2 million from £14.2 million in the first half of 2022.

Gross mortgage lending in the first half of the year was £660 million, up from £448 million in the first half of 2022.

Newcastle Building Society CEO Andrew Haigh wrote: “We have experienced multiple increases in bank base rate in the first half of 2023, which in turn has led markets to respond, driving rapid increases in fixed rate mortgage pricing and an upward trend in variable rate savings and mortgages.

“We are mindful of the need to find a fair, equitable and consistent approach in balancing increases in variable savings and variable mortgage rates, for all of our customers, including those who may have closed products or relatively low balances.

“We have therefore continued to increase the rates applied to all our savings products, not just our headline rates.

“We continue to offer good value to borrowers. Our Standard Variable Rate (SVR) for mortgages at the end of June of 5.19% against a market average of 7.63%, saving our members almost £336k in interest payments for the month alone.

“We continue to encourage savers and promote positive savings habits through good value and high quality service.

“In the first four months of 2023, we paid an average savings rate 0.64% higher than the market average equating to £27m more interest for our members.”