Hampshire Trust Bank reduces LTVs in response to material uncertainty

By Bridging Loan Directory 15th April 2020

Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) Specialist Mortgages has announced that it will be limiting its lending to 60% maximum net LTV for any valuation report that includes a material uncertainty clause.

Charles McDowell, pictured, Managing Director, Specialist Mortgages said:

“Until we have more clarity around the actual performance of property prices post COVID-19, we are restricting our maximum LTV to 60% for any loan which relies on a valuation report which contains material uncertainty. We will continue to review our position as we are able to build up our base of up-to-date house price data.”

Valuation is as much an art as it is a science, but a key element of any valuation is suitable comparable transactions and the truth is that we won’t have comparable transactions for a number of months in some cases. Our valuation partners are responding to this by including material uncertainty clauses within their reports. We in turn as a lender are responding to this material uncertainty by reducing our maximum LTV to 60%. If and when we begin to see valuation reports without these clauses we will lend up to 75%.”