Kensington posts record month for lending

Specialist intermediary lender Kensington enjoyed a record month for lending in October with applications up 50% year-on-year.

Applications rose 60% by value compared to the same month last year.

Year-on-year completions also increased by 18% and 20% by value.

This made October the lender's strongest month for applications and completions since it relaunched in 2009.

The figures also revealed that Kensington’s second, third and fourth biggest days for new lending in recent years all fell within October 2015.

Steve Griffiths, head of sales and distribution at Kensington, said: “These strong figures are testament to our determination to drive the growth of the business since Kensington was purchased by new owners in January.

It’s been a busy year, and we have been working hard to deliver a huge programme of change to successfully move into our new operating environment and improve our core product range.”

Kensington has implemented a number of product enhancements, including increased maximum age and mortgage term, improved self-employed criteria for limited company directors and increased maximum loan size to £2 million.

It has also increased the interest-only limit to 75% LTV for higher earners, cut buy-to-let stress rates and removed minimum income for experienced landlords.