What's on this page
Our assets
Being a building society, we’re different to a bank. The majority of our lending assets must be secured on residential property, which includes mortgages and loans to social housing providers. These assets account for more than 90% of our lending portfolio. We also lend to business customers, who are primarily UK-based small or medium enterprises, and offer consumer lending products through credit cards and personal loans.
Business lending
The environmental and social impacts of providing financial services to businesses are mainly indirect. However, we are committed to working with our customers to understand the impacts of the products and services that they offer, as well as their approach to environmental and social sustainability.
We have identified the highest risk sectors and have limited (or eliminated) our exposure to them. As a result, we do not lend to, or invest in:
- arms that are subject to a treaty or convention, to which the UK government is a signatory (such as nuclear, biological and chemical weapons)
- businesses involved in the exploration, extraction, or mining of coal
- businesses that generate revenue directly from oil and gas extraction
- power generation from coal-fired power plants
- non-sustainable, large-scale deforestation activities for alternative land use purposes, including palm oil production
For more detail on our sector-specific lending restrictions, please see our sensitive sector statement - PDF, 101KB (opens in a new window).
Treasury investment
We have a treasury investment portfolio, held primarily for day-to-day liquidity management and consistent with applicable regulations. This portfolio is made up of cash and low risk investments, and we don’t invest in corporate bonds or equities. Treasury assets represent 15-20% of total assets.
Our ESG investment approach (opens in a new window) details how we consider sustainability within our investment activity.
Last updated: June 2025