CHL arrears at lowest level for four years

CHL Mortgages has reported a continued improvement in the arrears levels of its buy-to-let mortgage book which now stands at a four-year low.

Arrears at the specialist lender now stand at 1.46%, which is 44 basis points lower than the CML average and represents an ongoing drop for CHL as arrears stood at 1.69% at the end of 2011.

The latest buy-to-let arrears figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) for quarter one this year show the three month-rate across the sector standing at around 1.9%, compared to 2% in the owner-occupier market. Quarter two figures will be published in August.

CHL has also revealed a significant number of properties that are now managed by a receiver of rent are in an improved position. Of those properties that can be rented out 95% have tenant occupancy while 65% of the accounts under a receiver of rent have now been repaired and moved from a default to a positive position.

Bob Young, managing director at CHL Mortgages, commented: “The fact our arrears levels have now reached a four-year low and continue to reduce month-on-month is testament to the hard work carried out by our collections team in helping borrowers in difficulty to arrive at a satisfactory solution for all parties.

“The strategy we implemented a few years ago around this continues to bear fruit and borrowers appreciate the human touch that our highly-skilled and trained team bring to their work. By having this facility in-house we are able to maintain greater control and contact than if we outsourced what is a vital process to a third party.

“We welcome decreasing arrears levels across the industry and the buy-to-let market as a whole, but are particularly proud that the performance of our own book continues to outshine the national average by some distance.

“While we may not be currently involved in new lending, we continue to manage well over 43,000 live mortgage accounts, so staying ahead of the curve in this manner is a strong performance.”