Strong demand enabled Kensington to increase the size of the securitisation issue which was oversubscribed. It included £370m of AAA-rated bonds priced at 1.15% over LIBOR.
The issue, arranged by Morgan Stanley, Citi and Credit Suisse, closed last week.
Kensington was forced to cancel a securitisation deal in November 2011, citing market conditions at the time. The effects of the Eurozone crisis are thought to have made the pricing unattractive.
However, with market conditions having changed significantly in the past three years, Ian Henderson, chief executive at Kensington said the lender plans to target opportunities in the residential and buy-to-let market.
“Kensington’s experience over 20 years shows that not all borrowers fit the high street criteria, even though they may be entirely creditworthy. These include borrowers who are self-employed or, even, full-time employees who may have complex income situations,” he said.
“There is a real need for case by case manual underwriting which is why Kensington will be investing in providing support to brokers to help them identify and place specialist cases.”
