Specialist lender Kensington has closed its first securitisation in three years, raising £497 million.

The size of the securitisation issue was increased due to oversubscription.

The issue, which was arranged by Morgan Stanley as joint lead manager together with Citi and Credit Suisse, closed last week and included £370 million of AAA-rated bonds priced at 1.15% over LIBOR. The securitisation was rated by S&P and Moody’s.

Ian Henderson, chief executive at Kensington, said: “The strong demand from the capital markets underlines our confidence in the expansion of the specialist lending market and combined with the recent change of ownership will enable Kensington to target opportunities in the residential and buy-to-let market.

“Kensington’s experience over 20 years shows that not all borrowers fit the High Street criteria, even though they may be entirely creditworthy. These include borrowers who are self-employed or, even, full time employees who may have complex income situations.

“There is a real need for case by case manual underwriting which is why Kensington will be investing in providing support to brokers to help them identify and place specialist cases.”