SOCIETY Matters Moving on More Success for Building Societies in 2017, and Looking Into the New Year
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No. 46 | Winter 2017 SOCIETY matters Moving on More success for building societies in 2017, and looking into the New Year. Opinion Data protection Housing Interview We knew it all GDPR – Are you Could modern methods Paul Ellis celebrates along – ownership ready for the May of construction become 25 years at Ecology really does matter deadline? mainstream in UK Building Society housebuilding? pages 3 & 4 page 5 page 6 page 12 SOCIETY matters welcome contents Hello and welcome to the winter edition of opinion 3 We knew it We knew it all along – ownership really does matter Society Matters all along data protection 5 GDPR: Are you ready? We explore ‘re-permissioning’ housing 6 Could modern methods of construction become mainstream in UK housebuilding? New home quality with modern methods of construction How to break free from the ‘housebuilding pool of stagnation’? Graham Sibley It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and not just MSP shares his thoughts because pigs in blankets are officially an acceptable older borrowers 9 breakfast – but also because it provides the opportunity Lending into retirement: An update to reflect on a busy year in which lots of progress has been made. In this, the final edition of 2017 we have well- insight 10 We catch up with the sector’s placed experts covering more topics that matter to our recently appointed CEOs sector than you can shake a candy cane at. interview 12 fter what feels like a lifetime Paul Ellis celebrates 25 years at we now know that this is the Ecology Building Society penultimate Christmas we will enjoy as a member of the European AUnion, and that in March 2019 we will be legislation 14 taking our first steps as an independent nation: Tax evasion: the latest legislation and how deal or no deal. I hope that the UK will remain to prevent your organisation falling foul on member states’ Christmas card lists when it is all over. overview 15 Two years on from the launch of the BSA’s Year in numbers Lending into retirement report, it is fulfilling to see the progress we have made when it comes diary 16 to meeting the needs of those who will be older borrowers at the end of their mortgage term – and that building societies continue Society Matters is a publication of to lead the way (P9). BSA Chairman Jonathan the Building Societies Association – Westhoff discussed this demographic shift the Housing Revenue Account indicates we are ISSN 1756-5928. along with the housing crisis in his speech slowly moving in the right direction for the The views expressed by authors in this at last month’s BSA Annual Lunch. nation’s underserved home searchers: whether magazine are not necessarily those of they are looking to rent or buy. the BSA. Modern methods of construction (MMC) was a hot topic on my table at the Lunch, So as we dig out our Christmas jumpers and Chief Executive: Robin Fieth so I am happy to bring you three articles mull every beverage in sight, on behalf of [email protected] on the subject from the perspectives of the everyone at the BSA I would like to wish you Editor: Amy Harland BSA, housing warranty providers NHBC and a wonderful festive season and a safe and [email protected] a Member of Scottish Parliament. P6-8. happy New Year. BSA, 6th Floor, York House, 23 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6UJ Elsewhere in housing, the take-away See you in the March edition! www.bsa.org.uk announcement from the Autumn Statement was the abolition of Stamp Duty for first-time AMY HARLAND Designed by: Whatever Design Ltd. buyers. However our data shows that this is Society Matters Editor www.whateverdesign.co.uk actually a bigger barrier for home movers than Printed by: Trident Printing, first-time buyers. Conversely, the allocation You can keep up with the BSA on Twitter www.tridentprinting.co.uk of £44bn to housing infrastructure and lifting @BSABuildingSocs 2 SOCIETY matters | WINTER 2017 SOCIETY matters opinion – ownership We knew it really does all along matter By ROBIN FIETH, BSA Chief Executive We have always felt there is something special about building societies and the way they treat their customers, attributing it to “being a mutual” and recognising that our customers are also our members. or a number of years the BSA’s six- cases I get the sense that we haven’t really ultimate custodians of an organisation’s purpose, monthly customer tracker survey understood deep down how the magic works. from which derives its strategy, business model has shown building societies scoring Maybe now we have some better insight than and culture. Like many other informed writers, consistently better than shareholder we have achieved before. Over the summer he looks back on the demutualisations of the Fowned banks on measures like “I can trust my months more than 2,400 employees from 1980s and 1990s as a period of economic provider to act in my best interests” and “I 28 building societies participated in a survey destruction that enriched a particular generation would recommend my provider to my family focusing on who they thought receives the of incumbent managers and savers, but “would and friends”. Third party surveys carried out benefit from building societies. Meanwhile, denude the country in future of wise lenders by Which? and other consumer organisations YouGov conducted a parallel survey of 1,100 along with their important culture.” consistently show that customers recognise adults working in public and privately owned great service when they get it – and that companies, the public sector and charities. While the concept of mutuality may be they get great service from businesses called very poorly understood by building society building societies. But these customers The results were presented to BSA members customers and the general public, what typically don’t understand why. ahead of the Annual Lunch on 15 November stands out loud and clear from the survey and were launched in a BSA report “Ownership is that the concept of customer-ownership As a sector, we have debated long and Matters” during NEDs’ Week earlier this is well understood among building society hard about the mutual dividend, the lack month. In a forthright foreword to the report, employees. 85% of survey respondents agreed of customer versus shareholder conflict, Will Hutton, commentator and Principal of that they would feel confident explaining the and about the customer being truly at the Hertford College at Oxford University, argues ownership structure of their building society heart of the organisation. However, in most that ownership matters because owners are the to a customer. WINTER 2017 | SOCIETY matters 3 SOCIETY matters opinion The fact that employees believe the This is not a surprise. It is a re-affirmation of In an increasingly competitive world of finance, respective owners of their firms are the what we knew. More importantly, the survey this is gold dust. Over the past year we have most important stakeholder group has a findings help explain the magic in a fresh spoken often about the need for building huge bearing on which values and beliefs are way. The fact the employees appreciate so societies to build on their areas of inherent the most important in the culture of their strongly who benefits from their contribution, competitive advantage and stand out with organisation. This perhaps shows most clearly propels the culture of building societies from consumers for the right reasons – as a sector in the report’s key finding. As can be seen the bottom up in a way that a Board inspired that is growing, dynamic, forward looking and in the graph below, the proportion of value culture change programme will often struggle a force for good in financial services. Being created by building societies that passes to to achieve. able to demonstrate to present and future Who are you working for?customers is materially greater than in any generations of customers that membership Organisations create value when their activities convert resources including raw materials,other businessstaff skills, form technology covered and by information the survey. In his comments at our November gathering, of a building society will bring far more value into goods and services, but who ultimately receives the value that has been created?Building society employees believe that 37% Will Hutton spoke about the “north star of and benefit to them than alternative business of the value created by their businesses is purpose” that has enabled building societies models, provides our sector with exactly the We asked people working for building societies to estimate the percentage of the valuereceived or benefit by their created customer-owners. by their Society thatAsked to outperform “non-purposed” businesses opportunities to stand out in the crowd for all went to different stakeholder groups. Separately, independent survey company YouGovthe asked same people question, working employees for other in types publically of consistently over 25 years – a reason why the right reasons. Building societies are seen organisation the same question in relation to their employer. listed companies felt that only 13% passed financial mutuals should be a conspicuous as friendly, supportive, trustworthy, welcoming to customers. pat of the UK corporate landscape far into and customer-focused. The customer These surveys give the perspective of employees, so the results are a measure of perception not a financial calculation. However, the future. treatment chart below explains clearly why. the results do show the groups for whom employees believe their organisations create value. This indicator is insightful as it points towards potential differences in organisational culture across various types of ownership.