We believe we are different - Here at Harpenden Building Society, we believe in helping people towards a safe and secure financial future.

Financial services can often sound intimidating or confusing. We aim to deal with our customers in a personable manner and explain the best possible options for their individual circumstances. We understand what is important to our customers. Their intention may be for borrowing for a new home, investing in their retirement or saving towards their children’s future. Whatever the purpose, we’re here to help.

In a nutshell

We are owned by our savers and borrowers. We are proud to be an independent Mutual Building Society. The moment you open a savings account with us, or take out a mortgage, you become a Member and Harpenden is run for the benefit of our Members, hence the term ‘Mutual’. We are not answerable to any shareholders. Any profit Harpenden Building Society makes, we put back into the Society for the benefit of our Members.

Our heritage

In a year that celebrated the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the launch of the Royal Yacht Britannia and the first published James Bond novel Casino Royale… our Society also began its journey. It was March 3rd 1953 – during the era of the baby boomers that our foundations were created when a group of local business people came together, united a community and established the Harpenden Building Society. This pioneering group overcame adversity and believed the community deserved support to be able to buy local homes and to save for their future.

Our Society was built upon the vision of helping customers achieve their ambitions for the future, to serve our Members and strive to help them secure their financial future so that their dreams and aspirations were made possible. 2023 marked our Platinum Jubilee as we celebrated 70 years of helping people to buy their own homes and save for their future. We continue supporting local charities, events and organisations which contribute to the quality of life in the communities we serve.

We’ve come a long way since our inception in 1953 and we continue to maintain our traditional values as we look to the future.

We care about our community

Our strong local heritage has instilled within us a genuine consideration for the local communities we serve, and we believe in giving back to these communities whenever we can. Our community-based spirit is entrenched in our culture and to this day drives our Society forward. Our Charitable Trust was set up specifically for this purpose and our Grassroots Endowment Fund helps the local community.

View our dedicated communities page here

Some quick facts about us

• We’re proud to be a small independent Mutual Society - owned by our savers and borrowers
• We have four branches on the high street, across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
• Currently we have over 70 employees
• We are not answerable to any shareholders. Any profit we make, we put back into the Society to benefit our members
• Our mortgages are individually underwritten, that way we get to completely understand our customer’s specific needs
• Our savings accounts can be nest eggs or saving for those rainy days, we provide a range of accounts to suit customers of all ages
• Supporting and sponsoring community events, clubs and activities is important to us
• Funding from our Grassroots Endowment Fund has supported St Albans based youth counselling charity, Youth Talk and many others

A very good place to work for

We have been taking part in the Best Companies employee engagement survey for the first time. From our results, we are delighted to announce that Harpenden Building Society is a ‘Very Good’ place to work for.

This is a great achievement and is something we are very proud of. This is down to every single colleague within the Society and the constant hard work that has taken place over the last year.

We have come a long way recently, but we do not intend to stop here! We can't wait to build on this moving forward and keep improving. The hard work never stops.

To find out more about what we do, visit our dedicated page here