Loughborough Building Society

Loughborough Building Society is a small, mutual building society based at 56 Woodgate in Loughborough, Leicestershire. It offers savings accounts, cash ISAs and mortgages, and it is one of the building societies in the UK that lends specifically for self-build and custom build projects. As a mutual, it is owned by its members, the savers and borrowers, rather than by shareholders¹.

The society is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, with firm reference number 157258, and its permissions cover accepting deposits and entering into regulated mortgage contracts as lender². It appears on the Bank of England's list of building societies incorporated in the UK³. Money held in its savings accounts is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000 per eligible depositor¹.

What Loughborough Building Society offers: savings, ISAs and mortgages

Loughborough Building Society describes itself as a mutual building society existing to help its members save for what matters most¹. Its savings range is built around a handful of straightforward account types rather than a large catalogue, and its mortgage lending covers both standard residential lending and more specialist cases.

On the savings side, the society offers instant access accounts, which let you pay in and withdraw without giving notice⁶. Alongside these it runs notice accounts, such as Access x4, which restrict withdrawals in exchange for the account's terms, and a community savings range: its Barrow Upon Soar Library Community Saver is an instant access account that also supports a local club or charity, an approach the society promotes across its community savings accounts¹. For children and young savers there is a Young Regular Saver and a Junior ISA⁸, and for tax-free adult saving it offers cash ISAs, including an Instant Access Cash ISA and an Access x2 Cash ISA¹⁰. Interest on its accounts can be added to the account, paid to your bank, or paid to another Loughborough Building Society account, except with ISAs⁶.

On the mortgage side, the society's product pages show a range of fixed rate deals, with one page showing 13 products and another showing 22, so the size of the range depends on which part of the site you look at and when¹². Its lending includes shared ownership mortgages, which are sold on a fully advised basis¹³. For a fuller explanation of how each product type works, see our guides to savings accounts, ISAs and mortgages.

Is Loughborough Building Society a bank?

No, and the difference is worth understanding. A building society is a mutual: it is owned by its members, the people who save with it and borrow from it, and any surplus is retained for the benefit of the business and its members rather than paid to outside shareholders. Loughborough describes itself in exactly these terms¹. A bank, by contrast, is typically a company owned by shareholders.

Loughborough is one of 42 UK building societies represented by the Building Societies Association¹⁴. It is authorised and regulated in the same way as a bank for the products it sells: the Financial Conduct Authority Register shows it as Authorised since 1 December 2001, with permissions to accept deposits and to enter into regulated mortgage contracts as lender². It also appears on the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority list of building societies incorporated in the UK³.

In practical terms, the products work the same as their bank equivalents: a savings account pays interest, a mortgage is secured on your property, and the same rules on complaints and compensation apply. What differs is scale and ownership. Loughborough is a small society with a local focus, and as a member you are, in the society's own framing, the point of the business rather than a customer of one¹.

Self-build and custom build mortgages

Self-build, where you organise or carry out the construction of your own home, and custom build, where you work with a developer on a bespoke home, are areas where many high street lenders are cautious. Building societies have filled much of that gap: the Building Societies Association lists Loughborough among the societies that provide finance for self and custom build projects, alongside names such as Suffolk, Melton Mowbray, Bath, Scottish, Swansea and Ecology building societies⁴.

Loughborough's own mortgage pages include shared ownership products sold on a fully advised basis, and mortgage enquiries are handled by its in-house team: you can telephone 01509 389282, email mortgages@theloughborough.co.uk, or request a call back¹³. Because self-build lending is specialist, the society assesses each project individually, and the application process is advisory rather than a form you complete alone.

If you are considering a self-build or any other mortgage, you can apply directly to a building society or another lender, or use a regulated mortgage broker to help you¹⁵. Either route leads to the same affordability and credit checks. For how mortgages work generally, see our mortgages guide, and for the process of buying, our guide to buying a home.

Help if mortgage payments become hard to meet

Loughborough sets out a range of options for borrowers who are struggling with their mortgage costs. Its support page lists the help it can arrange: a temporary payment plan, a change of payment method or date, paying back over a longer period, changing the repayment method, switching to a different mortgage product, deferring a monthly payment (a payment holiday), or a combination of these depending on current and future circumstances¹⁶.

The society also states that it supports the Mortgage Charter, the government-backed commitment agreed with lenders to give borrowers in difficulty more breathing space and options¹⁶. The practical message is that contact early is better than contact late: the options listed are all easier to arrange before payments have been missed.

Existing borrowers who are not in difficulty but whose deal is ending can also switch to a new mortgage product with the society. Loughborough states there are no product switch fees for changing to a new mortgage product with it, and that if the interest rate on your chosen product reduces before your switch date, it will contact you with updated options¹⁸. That rate protection is worth knowing about: it means a falling rate between application and completion does not lock you into the higher figure.

How interest rates can change on your account

Loughborough's savings terms are blunt on this point: "We may change interest rates at any time."⁵ The same wording appears across its account terms, including its Instant Access Cash ISA and its Junior ISA⁹. Its variable rate accounts, such as Access x4 and the Instant Access range, can see rates rise or fall over the life of the account⁵.

What this means in practice is that no variable savings rate is a promise. The rate you open on is the rate you have today, and the society can move it whenever its terms allow, with notice given under its General Terms and Conditions, which the ISA terms point to for the detail⁹. If a rate falls, your options depend on the account: instant access accounts can usually be closed or emptied at any time, while notice accounts require you to give the stated notice before withdrawing.

Interest itself can be taken in several ways. On the Instant Access account, Access x4, the Instant Access Deposit account and the community saver, interest can be added to the account, paid to your bank, or paid to another Loughborough Building Society account, with ISAs excluded from the last option⁵. On fixed rate mortgages the position is different: the rate is fixed for the agreed period, so a fixed deal does not move with the market during that term¹².

Protection insurance through Pure Protect

Loughborough sells financial protection insurance, but it does not provide the cover itself. Its home insurance page states that "Loughborough Building Society acts an introducer to Pure Protect Limited for financial protection."²⁰ In other words, Loughborough introduces you to Pure Protect, and Pure Protect arranges and provides the policy. Pure Protect Limited is registered in England and Wales under company number 08698577, with its registered office at 16 Commerce Square, Lace Market, Nottingham²⁰.

This introducer model is common across building societies, and it matters for two reasons. First, the policy you end up with is a contract with the insurer or provider behind it, not with Loughborough, so policy terms, premiums and claims are handled by that firm. Second, if you have a complaint about the insurance itself rather than the introduction, it may need to go to the provider, though complaints about how Loughborough handled the sale can still go to Loughborough.

Separately, if you have a mortgage with Loughborough or any lender, buildings insurance is usually not optional: most mortgage lenders require you to hold buildings insurance²¹. Buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing damage to the structure of your property²². For how protection insurance works more widely, see our guide to protection insurance, and for home cover, our insurance guide.

How to open an account: in branch or by post

Loughborough's savings accounts are opened the traditional way. Its own words: "Opening an account is easy and you can do that in any of our branches or by post."¹ There is no full online application. Instead, you download and print the application form from the society's website, complete and sign it, and return it with your identification and opening deposit.

The Access x4 terms set out the standard process: return your completed form, the necessary identification and your opening cheque to your preferred branch, or post it to Loughborough Building Society, 56 Woodgate, Loughborough, LE11 2TZ, or scan your completed, signed application and identity documents and email them to savings@theloughborough.co.uk⁵. The Access x2 Cash ISA terms add the detail on what you must provide: a completed application form, the minimum investment, and proof of your identity and address, with cheques made payable to the account holder. Postal copies must be photocopies or scanned documents, not photographs¹¹.

To open an account you therefore need, in order:

1. Choose the account and read its terms on theloughborough.co.uk.
2. Download, print and complete the application form.
3. Gather proof of identity and address, and prepare your opening deposit.
4. Return everything to a branch, post it to 56 Woodgate, or email scanned copies to the savings team⁵.

Banking with Loughborough: branches, post and email

Once an account is open, you manage it through the same channels: in a branch, by post, or by email for scanned documents. The society's head office at 56 Woodgate, Loughborough, LE11 2TZ is the postal address for applications and correspondence⁷. Savings queries go to the email address the society gives for scanned documents, savings@theloughborough.co.uk, and mortgage business to mortgages@theloughborough.co.uk⁵.

This is a deliberately narrow service model. Unlike a large bank, there is no app, no online banking portal and no telephone banking platform described in the society's published material: the account terms it publishes operate around the branch, the post and the passbook. The Junior ISA, for example, "can be operated via branch and post", and a passbook is issued⁹. If having everything in an app matters to you, that is a genuine difference from the high street banks; if you prefer paper records and dealing with people, it may suit.

Complaints: what to do and how long it takes

Loughborough keeps its complaints process simple. A complaint does not need to be made in writing: the society states it will deal with complaints "whether made verbally, in writing or by email, in the same way"²³. You can contact its Customer Services team at 56 Woodgate, Loughborough, LE11 2TZ, by telephone on 01509 610707, or by email at enquiries@theloughborough.co.uk²³.

Once it has your complaint, the society writes to acknowledge it and aims to provide its final written response within one month²³. That is the society's own target; if it cannot resolve the matter in that time, it should tell you where things stand.

If you are unhappy with the final response, or eight weeks have passed without one, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to use. Our consumer protection guide explains how the ombudsman works and what it can and cannot award.

FSCS protection for your savings: up to £120,000

Money you save with Loughborough Building Society is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The society's savings page states that "Eligible deposits are protected up to £120,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)"¹, and its Junior ISA terms confirm the society is covered by the scheme⁹.

The FSCS steps in if a firm is unable to return depositors' money, for example if it fails. The £120,000 limit applies per eligible depositor per firm, so if you hold several Loughborough accounts, the balances add together towards that one limit rather than each having its own. Because Loughborough is a single society with one licence, all your accounts with it count together.

Two things are worth checking. First, the limit applies to eligible deposits, and the FSCS sets its own rules on who and what counts as eligible. Second, if you also save with another provider that shares a banking licence with Loughborough, balances there would count separately, but Loughborough is an independent society, so this does not arise in the way it can with big banking groups. You can confirm the society's authorised status on the FCA Register using its firm reference number, 157258².