Of this amount, £377m went into servicing the PRS.

Some £76m of loans were used for commercial real estate, which includes the lender’s commercial investment, semi-commercial, and owner-occupied product offerings.

Last year, YBS Commercial expanded its business development and regional lending teams to boost broker engagement and widen the lender’s market reach.

2024 also saw YBS Commercial venturing into new markets, with the launch of a new product to support SME owners who occupy their property for business purposes.

The commercial lender introduced short-form valuations to estimate market value, as well as a new process to conduct valuations before underwriting approval.

In addition, the business created a process to apply proportionality to the amount of information requested based on deal risk, allowing lower-risk cases to progress faster.

These changes resulted in case turnaround times from offer to completion reducing by 13.5% on average in 2024.

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In the summer last year, Angela Norman joined as head of lending, and was soon promoted to interim managing director.

Angela commented: “We’re really proud of what we achieved in 2024 and have made great strides in a number of different areas, from strengthening our teams on the ground to branching out into new markets and helping more borrowers.

“Assisting those who occupy their property for business purposes demonstrates our commitment to purposeful lending and supporting local communities.

“The process-driven improvements we’ve made so far are key to our success, and are a clear focus for 2025 as we set our sights on digital efficiencies, delivering for brokers and customers, and optimising the customer journey even further.

“Hitting over £2bn on the balance sheet is testament to the success of the adjustments we’ve made and speaks to the stability we offer as a lender, as part of Yorkshire Building Society, as well as to our commitment to the commercial market.”