Effective from the start of this week, Teachers Mutual and its subsidiary UniBank are now accepting mortgage applications from residential investors after the lender closed its investor portfolio earlier this year to allow it to come inline with restrictions mandated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
Mark Middleton, national manager of third party distribution at Teachers Mutual Bank said the non-major has successfully bought the growth of its investment loan book back to a level that is acceptable to APRA.
“Over the past three months we have closely managed our investment lending portfolio which has seen growth slow in line with the bank’s expectations and to meet APRA’s annual 10% guideline,” Middleton said.
“We are pleased to be in a position to return to the market. Our focus now will be working closely with our members and third party distribution channel to address their needs while still adhering to our regulatory responsibilities,” he said.
According to Middleton, investors will now have access to a range of products including variable and fixed rate home loans along with a 100 percent mortgage offset option from Teachers Mutual bank, however the non-major lender will work to ensure it does not breach APRA requirements going forward.
“To ensure a steady flow of business in this sector we will continue to proactively monitor our growth and adjust our lending measures as needed,” he said.
Teachers Mutual Bank is the second lender to return to the investment market after a self imposed break, after fellow non-major AMP took similar steps last year to meet APRA’s requirements.
