Kensington takes on new lending

The lender, which exited the market in September 2008 as a result of the difficult market conditions, has made the product available through appointed representatives of Legal & General (L&G), Pink and Openwork.

Keith Street, head of Kensington, said the company would take a cautious approach to its return as the market was still recovering.

He added: “We always intended to return to lending when the landscape was better and we are comfortable with the present conditions. It is important that we assess our re-entry carefully with a view to broadening our offering.”

Ben Thompson, director, mortgages at L&G, said Kensington’s comeback was an indication that more lenders wanted to get back into the mortgage market.

He added: “While it is important not to overplay this, we welcome an increase in the supply of credit to help get the lending market moving again. There is evidence of an increasing level of variety and choice among mortgage products and this is good news.”

David Sheppard, managing director of Perception Finance, welcomed its return but warned that the product was not strong enough to attract a lot of interest.

He added: “Kensington needs to differentiate this product in terms of its strengths. It needs to set it apart from its competitors because the pricing of this deal is not aggressive enough.”