History

Originally, Bradford & Bingley Building Society was formed in 1964 as a result of the merger of the Bradford Equitable Building Society and the Bingley Permanent Building Society, both of which were established in early in 1851. Since that time, there have been significant mergers, purchases, amalgamations and complications that have finally lead to Bradford Equitable Building Society to be merged into the Santander Group.

In May 1997, the Society bought Mortgage Express from Lloyds TSB but by December 2000, the Society already shifted tactics. They demutualised and floated on the London Stock Exchange allowing members to gain thousands of pounds each.

By September, 2008, layoffs were announced and Bradford & Bingley began negotiations to be nationalized. Soon after, it was announced that the Grupo Santander had purchased all of Bradford & Bingley's £20 billion savings business. Santander purchased the 197 retail branches, 141 agencies, and the employees were transferred to Santander's subsidiary, Abbey.

The mortgage book, personal loan book, headquarters, treasury assets and its wholesale liabilities were taken into public ownership and the bank has now been closed to new business for mortgages, although it continues to administer existing mortgages (including offers made prior to nationalisation). This means that Bradford & Bingley are still responsible for servicing the needs of customers with existing mortgages and insurance policies. In addition, Bradford & Bingley are also still responsible for servicing protection policies and certain investment products depending on when they were sold.

In January 2010, Grupo Santander merged the Abbey and Bradford & Bingley branch networks under the Santander brand. Bradford & Bingley's objective is now to repay and create value for UK taxpayers by reducing the size of their mortgage portfolio. They want to assist their clients to pay-off their mortgages or transfer to another financial institution. They remain committed to existing clients, until such time as they remain a customer.

Remortgages offered through Bradford & Bingley

Following nationalisation, Bradford & Bingley is now closed to new mortgage business and are unable to offer new mortgages or further loans. They are winding down our mortgage business, and they will help existing clients to avoid payment problems, pay-off their mortgages and/or find a better mortgage arrangement at another institution.

Through the services that they now offer, you can use their tools to find a better mortgage option, make overpayments in order to pay down your existing mortgage, and /or switch over to Repayment and compare the costs between different options.

Contact a Bradford & Bingley Branch to find out more information.