Darlington Building Society’s innovation as a lender has been recognised with the presentation of an industry award.

The Darlington Intermediaries team has been named ‘Legendary Lender’ at the Knowledge Bank Award 2023.

Judges were impressed with the adoption of technology at the Society, including leading the way with the appointment of James Travers in the new role of Digital Business Development Manager.

Products and Marketing Director Chris Brown said: “It’s an honour for the Society to be recognised in this way and a testament to the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to help brokers and borrowers to access mortgages.

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“Throughout its 167-year history, Darlington Building Society has put innovation at the heart of its core purpose of helping people to buy their own homes, and this award is another example of that commitment.”

The Society has also been innovative in under-served segments of the market, such as shared ownership.

It was also a founder member of the Government’s First Homes scheme, which was designed as a sustainable way of helping first-time buyers achieve their dream of owning their own home.

In addition, the Society was named as the first lender to support the Government’s Help To Build scheme, making it more practical and accessible than ever before for people to build their dream home. It followed the Society being at the forefront of self-build lending for over a decade, in partnership with BuildLoan.

More recently, the Society joined forces with Own New when it launched its 95 per cent mortgage product, alongside more than 50 housebuilders, to help buyers with low deposits to buy a newly built home.

“Our continued commitment to manual underwriting also allows us to look at more complex cases to try to find a solution, giving us greater flexibility in helping more people to own their own homes,” added Chris.