The buy-to-let lender revealed that in its second year of lending mortgage advances totalled £515m, up from £185m in 2015. However, Fleet said its lending had been impacted slightly by the UK’s vote to leave the EU, as it restricted some products in light of market volatility.
Fleet also turned over a profit of £2m last year and has plans to lend around £1bn of mortgages in 2017.
Bob Young, CEO, said: “Fleet Mortgages had a very strong year of lending activity in 2016 and we are particularly pleased with the overall credit quality of our mortgage book – something we take very seriously and with an underwriting process which is both tailored and robust.
“We have a management team that has been involved in the buy-to-let sector for many, many years and our focus remains on ensuring both our potential, and existing, borrowers can afford the loans they are taking out.”
Fleet’s mortgage book now comprises over 3,000 accounts since its first completion, with no arrears on any accounts.
The average loan-to-value on Fleet’s mortgage book is 67%, with the average weighted interest coverage ratio coming in at 153% of the stressed rate. Fleet pointed out this was substantially higher than the 145% adopted by many Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)-regulated lenders in light of rules brought about this year. Fleet is not regulated by the PRA.
On average, borrowers with Fleet typically own 12 properties.
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