This, the firm’s fifth residential mortgage-backed securitisation (RMBS) transaction, has been led by Barclays, JP Morgan, NatWest Markets and Santander.

Belmont Green said the trade would put specialist lender, Vida Homeloans, in a position to return to new lending but also sent out a signal the securitisation market was beginning to re-open for business.

Anth Mooney, CEO of Belmont Green, said: “This is one of the first RMBS transactions to complete in Europe since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis and we are delighted to have seen such strong demand from investors.

“Covid-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the UK mortgage market. The virus and the subsequent lockdown effectively closed the securitisation markets, so our deal can be seen as an important staging post in the recovery of market confidence.

“Our responsibility as a specialist lender at this time is to help people with what are real life circumstances.

“Vida Homeloans can now look forward and re-focus on the vital role it plays in supporting Britain’s many underserved borrowers, from key workers to single parents to the self-employed.”

Known as Tower Bridge Funding 2020-1, the deal saw ‘significant appetite’ from prominent ABS investors and attracted several high-profile additions to the programme.

It factored in a number of innovative structural features, designed to mitigate any investor concerns over the impact of the pandemic.

Belmont Green reported pricing on the transaction was strong, with AAA notes settling at 137 basis points over SONIA, comparing very favourably to Belmont Green’s Tower Bridge Funding No.4 securitisation in June 2019 which priced only 10 basis points tighter.