Mortgage News
Hinckley & Rugby BS triples mortgage business in H1
Hinckley & Rugby Building Society has revealed it received mortgage applications for more than £40m in the first six months of 2011 – triple the £13m it recorded for the same period last year.
In its half-year update, the Hinckley & Rugby said that customers have applied for more in the first half of this year than was advanced in the whole of 2010.
It said it is on course to achieve a full-year mortgage application total of £90m, with advances expected to be around £85m for the financial year compared to £35m last year.
Chris White, chief executive of the Hinckley & Rugby, said that the performance of the mutual in a flat housing market showed it was gaining market share from other mutuals and big banks.
White said: “We are going to blow last year’s mortgage figures out of the water. We first started to see a growing interest in our mortgages towards the end of last year and that has grown and grown in 2011 to date.”
He revealed that the growth in mortgages has stemmed from its decision to do marginally higher risk lending, including higher LTVs and buy-to-let loans.
Episode 4: New Build: Powered by Partnership podcast from Newcastle for Intermediaries
Sponsored by Newcastle for Intermediaries
Nevertheless, he said Hinckley & Rugby remained cautious, with any loans of more than 80% LTV insured.
Arrears for the Hinckley & Rugby in H1 totalled just £27,000 from a mortgage book worth £420m.
White said: “That is a great figure when compared to others in the mortgage industry. Not one of our buy-to-let customers is in arrears and neither are any of the residential loans that we have made over the last few years.”
White added: “What is good for the future of the Society is we are seeing the wheels turning much more freely, and we are making money in our core business of savings and mortgages thanks to improving margins. This in turn has allowed us to launch new competitively priced products for the benefit of our members.”