Skipton Building Society

Is Skipton Building Society safe?

Yes. Skipton is one of the best-capitalised lenders in Britain, and for most savers the FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary is a second line of defence they are unlikely to need. At 30 June 2026 its CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital ratio was 27.9%, against a requirement of 10.3%, and its liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary averaged 177.5% over the year. Eligible deposits are protected up to £120,000 per person. We score it 82/100, a point behind Nationwide and ahead of high-street banks such as Barclays (76). The catches are smaller: lower credit ratings than Nationwide, a crisis record that leaned on a state-guaranteed bond, and a separate Guernsey bank whose savers have much less protection.

How strong is Skipton's capital?

Very strong on paper. A building society cannot raise money from shareholders, so its capital is mostly profit kept over 173 years. Skipton's CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital was £2.66 billion in June 2026.

Two things temper the headline ratio. First, risk weights on prime mortgages are low: Skipton's £41.8 billion of assets count as only £9.5 billion of risk-weighted assets. The leverage ratio, which ignores risk weights, is a less dramatic 6.7%, though that is still higher than Nationwide's. Second, the PRA has not yet approved Skipton's updated internal models. Until it does, Skipton adds a temporary adjustment to bring its risk-weighted assets up to the level the new models are expected to give, and it warns that this may still change.

The ratings agencies are less impressed than the ratios suggest, mainly because Skipton is far smaller than the big banks. Fitch raised its issuer rating to A in May 2026; Moody's rates its deposits A2. Both outlooks are stable.

Where Skipton's money comes from

Savers. Retail savings of £31.2 billion made up 86.6% of funding in June 2026, and the rest came from £4.5 billion of wholesale funding, including a £500 million covered bond issued in May. Small retail balances spread across more than a million members are slow to run. The mortgage book of £34.6 billion has an average loan-to-value of 50%, and only 0.31% of UK borrowers were three months or more in arrears, well under the industry figure of 0.77%.

Skipton is also the owner of Connells, the UK's largest estate agency group. Connells' profits swing with the housing market (its underlying profit fell to £2 million in the first half of 2026), but it sits outside the prudential group. The capital and liquidity figures above leave it out.

What about Skipton International?

Skipton International Limited is a separate bank based in Guernsey, with about £2.3 billion of savings. It is not covered by the FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary. Its depositors fall under the Guernsey Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme, which pays up to £50,000 per person per bank and caps its total payouts at £100 million in any five years.

It is also the weakest part of Skipton's conduct record. After feedback from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission in 2023, Skipton International began a review exercise and spent 2025 strengthening its controls, which helped cut its underlying profit from £31.0 million to £12.1 million. The 2025 accounts say further costs are probable but cannot yet be estimated. In the UK we found no FCA fine against the society in the last ten years, a cleaner record than Nationwide's £44 million fine in 2025 or NatWest's criminal conviction in 2021.

How Skipton came through 2008

It stayed profitable, with group profit before tax of £22.5 million in 2008 and £63.5 million in 2009 (£39.7 million of that came from selling subsidiaries), and it took no state capital. It was not untouched. Skipton set aside its full £11 million exposure to Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander when the Icelandic bank's UK arm failed in 2008, recovering £3 million a year later; its ratings were cut in 2009, and in December 2009 it raised £650 million under the government's guarantee scheme for bank debt. In March 2009 it took over Scarborough Building Society, whose board chose a merger in the uncertain conditions of the time.

How to keep your savings safe at Skipton

1. Keep each person's total at Skipton Building Society within £120,000, or £240,000 for a joint account. Skipton shares its licence with no other brand, so an account at Nationwide, for example, gets its own limit.
2. If you save with Skipton International, treat it as a Guernsey bank: only £50,000 is protected, by a smaller scheme.
3. Skipton says it will never ask you to move money to a "safe" account or share your online banking codes. Hang up on any caller who does and phone the society on the number on its website.

How we scored it

Liquidity (90) and capital (86) are Skipton's strongest factors: a CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary near 28% and a funding base that is almost all savers' money. Capital scores below Nationwide's because of A-range ratings and models still waiting for PRA approval. Stability (80) reflects a 2008 crisis without state capital but with a state-guaranteed bond, and conduct (80) the open review in Guernsey. Digital security (72) is the weakest, mainly because Skipton publishes little about its security.