CHL snaps up £295m buy-to-let portfolio

13 December 2010 | By Samuel Dale

After vigorous due diligence and exploring various options, Irish Permanent International elected CHL as the preferred partner to manage this quality loan book.

Including this book, assets under management for CHL, the Hampshire-based lender, now stand at £6.5bn.

The nature of this loan book, the properties, the borrowers and the products are complex and require experience and flexibility to be managed successfully.

For example, the portfolio’s borrowers are spread across over 40 legal jurisdictions with securities in England and Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

Borrowers include high-net worth individuals, corporates and trusts albeit with relatively low LTVs and exceptionally low default rates.

The deal marks an increase of mortgages under management by nearly 5% during 2010 and signals confidence in CHL to manage mortgages on behalf of originators.

CHL will manage all aspects of this loan book including general administration, delinquent accounts and recoveries leaning heavily on its existing infrastructure and footprint across the UK and Ireland.  

Although CHL is not actively in the market for similar deals it stresses that it will always be interested in opportunities that make commercial sense for the business.

Bob Young, managing director of CHL Mortgages, says that even though it is not originating new loans this shows that it is still very much active in the market. 

He says: “The complexity of this portfolio is high to say the least and it has been obvious to us that few other lenders would have been able to take this on.

“Although we were a ‘preferred option’ to manage this portfolio we nonetheless went through a rigorous process of due diligence and cost justification. The flexibility and track record of CHL has been a key positive in being able to take on this portfolio.”

If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Mortgage Strategy and Follow @mortgagestrat