Sainsbury’s Bank has been asked by a Conservative MP not to sell its mortgage loan book to a private equity firm or an unregulated lender, as the bank continues to consider its options following its exit from the mortgage market.
The bank announced its exit from the mortgage market in September and was taking offers for the sale of its £1.9bn mortgage book, with Lloyds Banking Group rumoured to be one of the lenders interested.
According to This is Money, Kevin Hollinrake MP wrote to Sainsbury’s Bank CEO Jim Brown, asking to have a meeting to discuss the bank’s future plans.
He also urged Sainsbury’s Bank not to sell its mortgage book to a “vulture fund”, as he said: “The last thing we want to see is a loan book sold off to an unregulated lender, which causes tremendous problems.”
Hollinrake was a member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee when it was dissolved for the general election in December.
A Sainsbury’s Bank spokesperson told Mortgage Solutions: “As announced in September, we have stopped issuing new mortgages and are exploring options for the existing book.
“One option is to sell the book and we are exploring this option with interested parties. We emphasise that this is only one of the possible options.”
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
