Fleet Mortgages has revealed that its relationship with asset manager BlackRock has so far resulted in over £0.5 billion in buy-to-let mortgage lending.

The lender began lending officially at the start of 2015 and in less than 18 months has reached the half a billion figure, working via BlackRock and its institutional clients.

Fleet Mortgages has so far completed tranches of loans for a number of BlackRock clients, with new investors already lined up. One single BlackRock client has already funded £240m of prime buy-to-let loans.

BlackRock manages the investor clients directly and Fleet Mortgages originates the pools of loans for it based on their risk and return requirements. Each client takes a position in the mortgage assets, directly owning the risk on them and securing the returns.

Fleet Mortgages currently has over 2,000 buy-to-let borrowers with no arrears on any of its mortgages.

Bob Young, chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages, said: “To my mind our relationship with BlackRock was totally unique in the UK mortgage market, although our success is obviously causing others to look at the sector. In effect we have brought a new type of investor and new money to the buy-to-let market and our offering allows these investors to directly invest in the mortgage market – the largest single asset class in Europe – and secure strong returns.

“As levels of return drop in other asset classes, the UK property market retains its allure and demand has been considerable since our launch, and looking ahead to the future.

“Unsurprisingly, the focus is on the credit-quality of our lending – these are investors who want to take a position in high-quality, prime lending and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We are not interested in ‘less-than-prime lending’ and this is clearly a further attraction for BlackRock’s clients. Passing half a billion of lending is a notable achievement and we, and BlackRock, are incredibly pleased with how the relationship is working and our ongoing activity levels.

“That said, we have major ambitions for the future, and looking at the appetite for this type of lending from investors, we are seeking to increase transaction levels and develop our activity in the months and years ahead.”