Building Societies their Working and Advantages 59 



12. BUILDING SOCIETIES THEIR WORKING 

 AND ADVANTAGES 



Building societies are based on the co-operative 

 principle and have proved of the greatest benefit to 

 the artisan class and the lower middle class. Primarily 

 they are established for the purpose of enabling their 

 members to obtain house property by periodical sub- 

 scriptions ; but they also afford facilities for safe and 

 profitable investment and thereby encourage thrift. 



The first English building society was formed at 

 Greenwich in 1809, but the oldest existing society is 

 the Chelmsford and Essex, which dates from 1846. 

 The growth of building societies is one of the features 

 of the nineteenth century, and marks a new stage in 

 the development of self-respect in the wage -earning 

 classes of our country. Directly a man hasbought his 

 own house or some other property, he feels he has a 

 stake in the country, and takes a pride not only in 

 local but also in imperial affairs. 



The encouragement of building societies was largely 

 owing to the Act of 1836, which declares that it shall 

 be lawful to establish such societies for the purpose of 

 enabling members to erect and purchase dwelling 

 houses, which shall be mortgaged to the society until 

 the amount borrowed shall be fully repaid with interest. 

 The Building Societies' Act of 1874 enlarged the scope 

 and powers of building societies, and as a result there 

 has been a great increase in this excellent work in all 

 parts of the British Isles. There are nearly 1700 building 

 societies in the United Kingdom, and the total member- 



