Setting borrowers up for success: Peter Howarth

Setting borrowers up for sucess

Peter Howarth

From tornadoes to archaeological finds and contractors walking off site, Peter Howarth, credit risk manager at Mint Property Finance, shares how the specialist lender’s portfolio management team works tirelessly to keep every loan on track, even when the unexpected events hit

Tell us a little about your role and what it entails

As credit risk manager, I’m responsible for our portfolio management team, a six-strong specialist department committed to overseeing the progress of every loan underwritten within the business.

We’ve two divisions: our development portfolio management team and our bridging portfolio management team. Both have the same objective—to set up loans to succeed and help our clients achieve their goals.

We’ve saved borrowers millions of pounds over the past five years

What is the team’s personal background and how does this benefit the business?

The team all have extensive experience of working in mainstream banking. Prior to joining Mint Property Finance in 2017, I was employed by NatWest Bank where I worked as part of the real estate finance team for 15 years. All my colleagues have similar banking experience and have worked for the likes of HSBC, Lloyds and Yorkshire, among others. This experience, where processes and procedures are rigidly monitored, is invaluable, and form the basis of the operating principles that we apply to our loans to ensure success.

What does the portfolio management team do?

Put simply, the team works as an extension of the broker and/or borrower’s team to manage every single stage of the loan from pre-completion through to completion and redemption. A sizeable amount of time is invested at the start, with the team working with the borrower and/or broker to ensure that the project timings are realistic and achievable, and that the cash flow is fit for purpose. It’s a stage often underestimated by clients and yet it is without doubt the most crucial to consider to provide the loan every chance of success.

Following completion of the loan, the team then works with the client through every stage of the process, monitoring it on a monthly basis to ensure that the project, and thus the loan, remain on track. If it’s not, we work together with the client to get it back on the right path, leveraging our extensive panel of experts and, if necessary, restructuring the loan to give the borrower the very best opportunity of achieving their goal.

Does it benefit borrowers of all experience?

Yes, absolutely. Loans can falter for many reasons, and development inexperience is only one of them. Recent years have presented a number of challenges that even the most experienced borrower may not have anticipated or experienced. Our portfolio management team is an invaluable support in these situations, bringing over 150 combined years of property development and financing expertise to the table. We’ve saved borrowers millions of pounds over the past five years.

What are some of the most unusual challenges you’ve had to manage?

You’d think we’d have seen it all over the years, but there’s always a new first. Last year’s tornado that swept through Cheshire and destroyed sites in their path, to archaeological finds, are some of the more memorable and unforeseen challenges we’ve had to deal with recently. The economic climate has of course also presented a number of potential issues, from labour shortages to delays in the delivery of goods and soaring energy bills, which have seen the costs of many goods escalate and impacted greatly on borrower’s cash flows and project timings.

In situations like this, how do you ensure the success of a loan?

Our collaborative approach to working means that if there are potential issues with a loan due to increased or unforeseen costs and delays in work, they’re identified early during the build programme/loan term, as opposed to near the end when some issues are harder to solve. This presents the opportunity for us to address the issues before they escalate and it’s too late to rectify them. The benefits are significant, minimising the cost to borrowers caused by extensions, defaults or renewals.

What benefits does the portfolio management team present for brokers?

We like to think we take the pressure off brokers. Our diligent approach means that loans are set up to succeed from the off, thereby reducing the potential for challenges. In the event of unforeseen obstacles such as those mentioned earlier, we’re quick to respond to them. This significantly reduces the number of challenges a broker has to contend with, freeing them up to focus on other opportunities.

Mint property finance is proud to have a 100% business success rate, how does the portfolio management team contribute to this?

Since inception in 2011, Mint Property Finance has been proud to underwrite over £1bn worth of loans, with £425m loans redeemed, all while protecting investor capital without any losses. The portfolio management team has contributed significantly to the business’s 100% success rate.

Case studies

Mint has helped turned thousands of property aspirations into reality over the past 11 years. Here is just a sample of the feedback we’ve received:

I have to highlight the ethical and customer-centric approach that Mint Property Finance operates. This, for me, is the approach lenders should adopt to retain the relationship of both the client and the broker

Broker

The speed at which Mint Property Finance released funds following the site inspection was impressive, helping to manage cash-flow and enabling work on site to keep moving

Borrower

I enjoy dealing with Mint loans as they’re so nice to work with and they share our customerfirst values. Their forms are all standard which makes the process much easier and quicker than other lenders

Solicitor

I just want to say thank you for being so accommodating. One of the reasons I have always liked working with Mint is that you do look after clients when ‘sh*t hits the fan’ and counts the most

Broker