Leeds Building Society announced that Iain Cornish “has given his intention to not progress with a third term as chair and, as such will step down as chair of the board during 2025.”

Leeds, the UK’s fifth-largest mutual, said Cornish “intends to spend more time on other commitments and will stay until a successor is in place.”

The building society added: “Come the time to leave, Iain will go with best wishes and thanks from the Society.”

Last July, Leeds said it enjoyed record savings inflows of £1.4 billion in the first half of 2023, taking total savings balances with the mutual to a record £19.1 billion.

More than 79,300 new members joined the society, taking total membership to a record 878,000.

Leeds increased its total assets to £26.9 billion (H1 2022: £24.1bn), the highest in the society’s history.

Profit before tax fell to £116.2 million from £146.5 million “supporting our ongoing commitment to reinvesting in the business and prioritising good value for members.”

Leeds hailed a “strong lending performance” in the first half with a total of £1.9 billion (H1 2022: £2.5bn) “including six of the 10 biggest days of lending in the society’s history and June its busiest ever month for shared ownership lending.”

Leeds said a record 49% of all its new borrowers were first time buyers.