Coventry's mortgage lending rises by record 97%

Gross mortgage advances increased 44% to £4.22bn while savings balances grew 25.3%, to £10.3bn. The society attributes the rise, which helped pre-tax profit rise 16.7% to £69.1m, to its low-risk strategy. It handed more than three quarters of its mortgage advances, fully secured, to customers with an unblemished credit history for residential property. Meanwhile, it loaned less than 10% of advances to first time buyers. The average loan-to-value ratio, adjusted for house price inflation, rose 1% to 45% in 2007. Unsecured loans represent less than 1% of total loans outstanding and unsecu...