CHL Mortgages’ buy-to-let arrears levels have continued to fall according to the latest data on its existing mortgage book.
As at the end of quarter one 2014, out of more than 40,000 live mortgage accounts – 0.93% of buy-to-let cases – were in three-month arrears, a quarter-on-quarter fall of 6 basis points (bps) from the levels registered at the end of 2013.
Compared to the latest arrears data released last week by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) this means CHL’s figures continue to outperform the overall buy-to-let market by 14 bps given the industry percentage of cases for quarter one 2014 was 1.07%
By stripping out those cases which are classified as receiver of rent or under repossession CHL’s figures for buy-to-let cases – which have arrears of more than 1.5% of the balance – was 0.15%. This is an outperformance of the market as a whole by over 50 bps with the CML reporting 0.7% as the industry figure.
CHL’s arrears levels have fallen consistently since 2009 and are now performing at a six-year low. The arrears figures continue to beat CHL’s own estimates for performance which were set at the start of this year.
Bob Young (pictured), managing director at CHL Mortgages, said: “The latest CML industry figures continue to show falls in arrears levels across both owner-occupier and buy-to-let mortgage business which is a strong sign of the improvement in borrowers’ ability to afford their mortgage finance and perhaps a signal of growing improvement in the wider economy.
“In terms of the buy-to-let market our continued outperformance of the sector as a whole is particularly pleasing given that falling arrears levels are one of the strongest key performance indicators of the business. It remains an ongoing challenge to ensure our arrears levels continue to fall and it is testament to CHL’s dedicated staff, and the positive relationships we have with our borrowers, that this has remained the case for such a long period of time.
“We will continue to work hard in this area and as always will seek to maintain the downward trajectory of our arrears levels in the months to come.”
