This is a 96% increase on 2020’s lending figure and helped Fleet secure a pre-tax profit of £6.97m.

Fleet says that 25% of its business came from portfolio landlords and 50% from limited company borrowers, reflecting “its focus on professional buy-to-let borrowers”.

It adds that purchasing increased from having a 28% share of business to a 42% share in 2021. There was a marked increase in activity outside Greater London, with the Midlands and North being regional highlights.

The firm was acquired by Starling Bank in July 2021 in a £50m cash and share deal.

Fleet chief executive officer Bob Young comments: “[Last year] was a ground-breaking year for Fleet, not just because of our acquisition by Starling Bank and the significant opportunities this affords us, but also in terms of the way our entire team dealt with the uncertain circumstances brought about by the pandemic and our ability to lend and service to such high standards.

“We’ve always focused on the quality of our loan book, and the securitisations and the fact we had no credit losses again, shows that we are continuing to excel in this area. One of the reasons behind the Starling Bank deal was due to our risk and underwriting standards, and this continues to be a real focus for Fleet as we grow our lending volumes.

“Fleet has entered 2022 with a very strong pipeline of business, and – with the support of Starling – we continue to focus on growing the proposition and operation, recruiting quality staff and pursuing our lending ambitions for the year ahead. We want to maintain our service standards, supporting intermediaries in the buy-to-let sector, and ensuring landlords have access to competitively-priced finance to allow them to grow their portfolios.

“We believe 2022 is going to be another positive year for the buy-to-let sector and are looking forward to playing a full part in the intermediary lending space.”