Who can vote at a building society AGM?

If you have a savings account or a mortgage with a building society, you are usually a member, and members can vote at the annual general meeting. Building societies are owned by their members, not by shareholders, so the AGM is the point in the year when that ownership means something practical¹.

The rules are not identical across societies, but the shape is consistent. You normally need to be 18 or over on the voting date, hold a minimum balance or owe a minimum amount on a mortgage, and still be a member on the day of the meeting. Coventry Building Society, for example, requires a mortgage with it or total savings of at least £100 at the previous 31 December, and continued membership up to and including the date of the AGM². Independent guidance from the Building Societies Association describes the same pattern: a minimum savings balance or mortgage debt of £100, being over 18, and being a member throughout the period between the end of the financial year and the AGM³.

The principle behind it is one member, one vote. The size of your savings or mortgage does not increase your voting power⁴. If you hold a joint account, only the first named holder normally votes, though other named holders can usually attend².

Members vote, not customers: who counts as a member

A building society is a mutual institution offering savings and mortgage accounts and, often, a wide range of other financial services⁴. It is owned by its members, which is what separates it from a bank owned by shareholders¹. When you open a savings account or take out a mortgage, you become a member rather than simply a customer⁶.

That distinction matters because membership carries rights. Members have a say in how the organisation is run, including decisions about charity partnerships and how the society is operated¹. They can receive information and voice opinions on how the society is run³. They are entitled to a copy of the society's rules and memorandum on request, a copy of the annual summary financial statement, the detailed annual report and accounts, and notice of the AGM⁴.

Not everyone with money in a building society is a member. Depositors, in the specific sense the Building Societies Association uses, are not members and have no say in its running. They need not be notified of the annual general meeting because they are not entitled to attend or vote on matters under consideration⁷. Customers of a subsidiary of a building society are not members of the society either⁴.

Some societies also distinguish between shareholding members and depositors in their own terms. Market Harborough Building Society states that holders of deposit accounts are not members of the Society, are still bound by its rules, and have no entitlement to attend or vote at meetings, or to receive windfall benefits⁸. If you are unsure which category your account falls into, the society's terms will say.

Savers and borrowers: how each qualifies

Both savers and borrowers can be members. Yorkshire Building Society states that you become a member when you open a savings account or take out a mortgage with it⁶. Teachers Building Society goes further: signing a mortgage deed makes the borrower a member of the Society, bound by its rules¹⁰.

For borrowers, the qualifying test is usually a minimum debt rather than a minimum deposit. Coventry Building Society requires you to owe at least £100 on a mortgage, or hold savings with it, up to and including the date of the AGM². Independent guidance describes borrowing members with a mortgage of less than £100 as having restricted rights⁴.

If you are both a saver and a borrower with the same society, you still normally have just one vote. The exception is when members are asked to vote on a conversion or merger, when two separate votes are given⁴.

Some societies set out the position for joint borrowers explicitly. Yorkshire Building Society says borrowers are members unless the mortgage offer says otherwise, and that joint account holders are all members but only the first named person is eligible to vote at the annual general meeting¹¹. Bath Building Society uses the term Representative Joint Borrower for the only person named on a mortgage entitled to vote on borrowing members' resolutions¹².

Minimum balance and qualifying dates for voting

The £100 threshold is common but not universal, and the date on which it is measured matters as much as the amount. Coventry Building Society measures savings at the previous 31 December, and requires continued membership up to and including the date of the AGM². Independent guidance describes the qualifying period as running from the end of the financial year to the date of the AGM³.

Members with less than the threshold have restricted rights. Saving members with less than £100 in their account, borrowing members with a mortgage of less than £100, and members under 18 can receive information on request but cannot vote, nominate directors or speak at AGMs⁴.

The timing of the meeting itself is set by law. The AGM must be held within four months of the end of the society's financial year. Most societies have a financial year ending in December and usually hold their AGMs in the following April⁴.

Joint accounts, children's accounts and ISAs

Joint accounts are the most common source of confusion. Coventry Building Society says that if you have a joint account, only the first named account holder can vote, subject to the same criteria, though every named account holder can attend the AGM². Monmouthshire Building Society says voting rights are normally exercised by the first named account holder⁵. Market Harborough Building Society states that only the first named saver on the account is entitled to membership rights, including the right to receive notices of, attend and vote at meetings⁸. Yorkshire Building Society applies the same rule to joint accounts¹¹.

Independent guidance puts it plainly: only the first named account holder is entitled to all the members' rights, and the second or subsequent named holders are entitled to fewer rights, mainly regarding obtaining information⁴.

Children's accounts raise a different issue. A junior cash ISA is held in the child's name, and the child takes over the account at 18¹³. Until then, the child is under 18 and members under 18 have restricted rights, which do not include voting⁴. Anyone can pay into a child's junior cash ISA, but paying in does not confer membership or a vote on the person making the payment¹⁴. Skipton Building Society states that joint accounts are not allowed on its Junior Cash ISA¹⁵.

ISAs held by adults are treated like any other savings account for membership purposes. Building societies and mutual-owned banks account for 46% of all cash ISA balances, so a large number of savers hold their ISA with a mutual¹⁶. Holding a cash ISA with a building society makes you a member on the same terms as any other savings account, subject to the same balance and age conditions.

What members vote on at the AGM

Members usually have the chance to attend annual general meetings, ask questions and vote on decisions¹. Coventry Building Society describes membership as giving you rights including voting on decisions about how the Society is run and asking questions at the AGM². Principality Building Society says members can take an active role in the Society's future by voting and attending the AGM¹⁷. Skipton Building Society says eligible members can vote at the AGM and could become part of its Member Panel¹⁸.

The specific business varies. Shareholders, as members, can vote in elections for the board of directors, attend annual general and other meetings and, if the correct procedures are followed, propose motions or stand for election themselves⁷. Most societies now also hold an advisory vote on the directors' remuneration report at the AGM, although this is not required by law⁴.

Members can also request a special general meeting. A request to the board to hold one usually requires the backing of 500 or more members who have been members for two years or more, and depending on each society's rules, each of the members requesting the meeting may be required to pay a deposit of £25⁴.

Any resolution must be submitted to the society before the end of the financial year for discussion at the following AGM⁴. Only the board can put forward a binding resolution to transfer the society's business to a company, so members cannot force a conversion by voting⁴.

How to vote: in person, online, by post or by proxy

The mechanics differ by society, but the options are broadly consistent. Members can attend the AGM in person, and societies send notice of the meeting in advance⁴. If you cannot attend, you can appoint a proxy to attend and vote on your behalf. Your society will probably send you a proxy form on which to indicate your wishes and how your vote can be used⁴.

Not every mutual allows proxy voting. Hull and East Yorkshire Credit Union states that a member may not vote by proxy at a general meeting, though postal voting may be used at the Board's discretion for Board and credit committee elections¹⁹. Credit unions are separate from building societies but share the mutual model, and members can become involved in decision-making by attending AGMs or other member meetings²⁰.

Where a third party is authorised to act on your account, the scope of that authority matters. Nottingham Building Society says you can authorise another person to act on your behalf by completing a third party authority form²¹. Chorley Building Society says that where more than one party is nominated, any party on the account can act without the others being present, unless stated otherwise²². That is authority over the account, not automatically a proxy vote at the AGM, so check the society's own voting instructions.

What happens if members vote against a resolution

Most AGM votes are not binding in the way a board decision is. The advisory vote on directors' remuneration that most societies now hold is exactly that: advisory, and not required by law⁴. A vote against it does not automatically change the directors' pay.

The structural decisions are different. Only the board can put forward a binding resolution to transfer the society's business to a company⁴. Members cannot force a conversion by voting against the board, and they cannot put a conversion resolution forward themselves.

Where a society does merge or transfer its business, members' rights are protected in specific ways. After a transfer, a member is treated as having whatever share and rights, including distribution rights, they would have had if the transfer had not happened²³. Building society membership rights are also preserved where the balance of a dormant account held by a member is transferred under the dormant accounts scheme, until the point at which the customer is repaid²⁴.

Members who want to influence the agenda have a route: submit a resolution before the end of the financial year for discussion at the following AGM⁴. That is the mechanism for putting a question to the membership, rather than voting against whatever the board proposes.

Where to get help

If you are unsure whether you are a member, or what your society's voting rules are, the society's own member support pages and terms set out the detail. Coventry Building Society publishes member rights guidance², and Monmouthshire Building Society answers common questions⁵. The Building Societies Association publishes consumer factsheets on members' rights³ and on the difference between a shareholder and a depositor⁷.

For free, impartial help with a financial services complaint, the Financial Ombudsman Service is the route. For general money guidance, MoneyHelper is the government-backed service. If a dispute about your account or your membership rights cannot be resolved with the society, its complaints process is the first step, and the ombudsman is the next.