Aldermore lends £1bn of gross residential mortgages in H1

The lender said: “As expected, growth was particularly strong in Q1, as we converted the large pipeline of customers with which we closed 2016.”

In SME Commercial Mortgages, the lender said underwriting multi-let investment properties resulted in loan growth of 1% to £0.9bn and added that its residential mortgage lending was driven by “strong positions” in market niches.

Philip Monks, Aldermore CEO said: “I’m delighted with the continued strategic and financial progress that Aldermore is making across the group.

“We have performed very strongly over the first half of the year, delivering a 19% return on equity and I would like to thank all of our colleagues who have worked so hard to deliver on our strategy and build on the success we have achieved to date.”

Net borrowing up

The bank said its loans to customers had risen 8% so far in 2017, with originations up 10% compared to the first half of 2016.

Net mortgage loans increased by 9% to £6.2bn and its commercial mortgage book grew by 1% to £0.9bn despite tightening its appetite for development-based lending following the EU referendum in 2016.

Aldermore added that in buy-to-let, the lender entered the year with a strong pipeline of applications as a result of the “market-wide changes in affordability tests”.

Overall the group reported a 32% increase in profit before tax to £78m up from £59m in H1 2016.