NINO STAFFA society mortgages granted in 1974. The following table (Table 7) shows the size of building society assets in 1976. Table 7: Building Societies' Assets Classified by Size of Society in Terms of Assets, 1976 £million A. Five largest societies 15,144 B. Other societies with assets exceeding £100 £100 million (24 societies) 9,451 C. Societies with assets over £25 million and up to £100 million (47 societies) . 2,405 D. Societies with assets over £2 million and up to £25 million (138 societies) . 1,120 E. Societies with assets under £2 million (150 societies) 81 All societies (364) . 28,202 Percent of Total 53. 7 33 .5 8.5 4.0 0.3 100 .o (39) The five largest societies (believed to be the Halifax, the Abbey National, Nationwide, Leeds Permanent and Woolwich Equitable) between them have assets of over £ 15,000 million (an average of over £ 3,000 million per society). These five societies alone are bigger than the rest of the societies put together. Building societies originated as savings clubs in the 18th century. These «clubs» used their savings funds to construct homes for its members. This activity started as a response to the appalling housing conditions as the time and the extreme vulnerability of private tenants to eviction. Building societies therefore became a « convenient mechanism by which the middle class and upper working class could gain better housing but at their own cost » (40). The societies originally also (39) HMSO op. cit., part II, p. 96. (40) WILLIAMS P.: The Role of Financial Institutions and Estate Agents in the Private Housing Market: A General Introduction, « Working Paper» n. 39, Centre For Urban and Regional Studies, March 1976, p. 27. 24
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