1775: The Birth of the Building Society
The modern mortgage industry was born in a pub in Birmingham in 1775, when a group of workers pooled their savings to build each other houses.
Long before massive global banks dominated the mortgage market, the UK property finance system was built on community cooperation. In 1775, Richard Ketley, a pub landlord in Birmingham, formed the very first 'Building Society'.
Ketley's Building Society
The concept was brilliantly simple: members of the society would pay a monthly subscription into a central pool of funds. Once enough money was accumulated, land was purchased and a house was built. The members would then draw lots to see who got to live in the house first. The winner would continue paying their subscription until every member had a house of their own, at which point the society would be dissolved.
This model proved so popular that 'permanent' building societies were soon formed, which took deposits from savers who didn't necessarily want a house, and lent the money to borrowers who did. This cooperative model democratised homeownership and laid the foundation for the modern UK mortgage market.