Fleet Mortgages brings lending capacity to £1.4bn with OWS partnership

The additional funding secured through the deal with New York-based OWS has brought the amount of money the firm has to lend in the UK buy-to-let market up to £1.4bn. 

Since returning to lending in April this year with a £1bn funding line, Fleet Mortgages said it has attracted more than £600m of new business enquiries.

The lender did not confirm the value of the OWS funding or if any other lines had been received since April.

It added that this new funding partnership would allow it to grow its product offering in its three core buy-to-let product areas: standard, limited company, and HMO/multi-unit blocks.  

Bob Young (pictured), chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages, said the funding line was an open-ended commitment, initially for two years and would help the company “continue to develop products in line with broker feedback and market needs.”

He added: “Fleet has a good product and service proposition and is back to originating in line with our annual target. This diversification of funding is normal for any lender and means we have more flexibility and greater stability.

“This new funding partnership with OWS cements our position in the UK mortgage market and provides Fleet Mortgages with a considerable amount of new funding to lend in the buy-to-let sector.”  

Young said: “It also shows that we are an attractive operation for global investment players and that, even from the perspective of a New York-based business, there is plenty to be positive about in the UK buy-to-let sector and those who operate at the quality end of it.

“Fleet’s reputation with corporate investors is such that we have a number of organisations who have registered serious interest in acquiring the high quality mortgages we originate. The speedy replacement earlier in the year is testament to this.”

OWS is an alternative investment adviser founded in 2008 which manages multiple investment strategies focused primarily on asset-based and structured credit opportunities in North America and Europe.

It is 100 per cent employee-owned with more than 65 employees and holds over $4bn of assets under management.  

Fleet Mortgages and OWS have worked together before with the asset manager investing in a previous Fleet loan book series. The lender said the new relationship showed the confidence OWS had in its operations and in the UK’s mortgage sector overall.