The Melton makes £1.11m

The society advanced mortgages worth £56m, while it vastly increased its capital and reserves from £1m to £33m.

Martin Reason, chief executive of The Melton, said: “We consider first-time buyers and shared ownership lending an important part of our strategy to promote home ownership in 2015.

“We also believe it is important to reward loyal and local customers and we will continue to offer special mortgage and savings rates for branch based business and our existing members.”

The Melton’s loans and advances totalled £300m in 2014, an increase of 1.4% from the year before.

As part of its strategy to improve credit quality, the society’s arrears fell by 26% in 2014.

The Melton has branches in Grantham, Oakham and Melton Mowbray.