building society

British

noun

a cooperative organization that accepts deposits of money from savers and uses them to make loans, secured by mortgages, to house buyers. Since 1986 they have been empowered to offer banking services

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The UK bank and building society sector has seen widespread branch closures in recent years, as many customers have switched to online and mobile banking.

From BBC • Nov. 11, 2025

Last year, a Nationwide advert featuring actor Dominic West that claimed the building society was not closing branches was banned.

From BBC • Nov. 11, 2025

Veronica Lewis says that the banking hub is "brilliant", but that she can't come with her husband as he is with Nationwide, a building society which is not included in the hub model.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2025

A proposed change to banking rules will increase significantly the amount of savers' money that is protected when a bank or building society goes under.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2025

Which fact was discovered, greatly to its surprise, by the building society when it came to foreclose on the allotments some years later.

From Children of the Bush by Lawson, Henry

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023