A NORTH-EAST building society, which reported a strong financial performance in 2018, has grown further as it extends its mortgage services to mainland Scotland.

On Monday, Darlington Building Society announced it had extended and increased its reach of residential mortgages to those living throughout Scotland.

Earlier this year, the building society reported a strong financial performance between December 2017 and 2018.

At the time, bosses at the firm said they had made ‘significant progress’ by investing funds into its online offering for members and upgrading its branch network across the North-East.

In April, the firm reported a net profit of £1.56m after tax by the end of 2018, while it ended the year with a strong capital position of £44.1m.

But extending its services, the building society, which said it was 'passionate' about ensuring mortgage applications were assessed by staff and not computers, claimed the Scottish property market remained robust.

Darren Ditchburn, Chief Customer Officer at Darlington Building Society, said: “Over the summer period we have been working with a number of mortgage intermediaries in Scotland and are excited to extend our mortgage offering through the Legal & General Mortgage Club.

“The Scottish property market has performed well in recent years and despite economic uncertainties, the market remains robust.

"Borrower circumstances are becoming more complex, with strong growth in contractor and self-employment circumstance, as well as people living and working for longer.

“Given this changing environment, our personalised approach to mortgage lending is perfect to support Scottish borrowers in achieving their home ownership aspirations.”

Danny Belton, Head of Lender Relationships at the Legal & General Mortgage Club, added: “It’s great that through working in partnership with Darlington Building Society, Legal & General Mortgage Club members in Scotland now have access to some much‐needed products and criteria, that will provide excellent opportunities for advisers and their customers.”

Earlier this month, Darlington Building Society appointed three new non-executive directors to join its board in its latest efforts to grow the firm even further.

The Northern Echo:

Experienced in finance, Angela Russell, Kate McIntyre and Jessica Williams were drafted in to support the firm in its development.

Jack Cullen, Chairman of Darlington Building Society, added: "We are delighted to have been able to appoint three such talented people who bring a diverse range of expertise, experience and views to our board."