Perenna

Perenna is a UK-based mortgage bank aiming to structurally change the nation's home financing market. Founded in 2018 by Arjan Verbeek, Colin Bell, and Hamish Peacocke, the company was established to introduce a Danish-style mortgage model centered on covered bonds. The journey began with presenting the business plan to regulators in 2017, leading to incorporation the following year. A significant milestone was achieved in September 2023, when Perenna secured an unrestricted banking license from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), becoming the first UK startup to do so that year.

The founding team's background is deeply rooted in finance and mortgages. CEO Arjan Verbeek, originally from the Netherlands, has a career spanning roles at BNP Paribas, Barclays Capital, and Moody's, where he analyzed international mortgage markets. His experience during the 2008 financial crisis inspired him to find a more stable model, which he identified in the Danish system. COO Colin Bell has over 25 years of experience in financial services, including setting up and managing lending divisions and serving as CEO for InterBay, a specialist mortgage lender.

Perenna's business model diverges from traditional UK banks by not relying on retail savings deposits for funding. Instead, it finances its mortgages by issuing covered bonds to institutional investors like pension funds and insurance companies seeking long-term, stable income. This funding structure allows the bank to offer long-term fixed-rate mortgages, a common product in other countries but less so in the UK. The company's revenue is generated through the mortgage products it provides to homeowners. Perenna's target clients include first-time buyers, home movers, those looking to remortgage, and retirees, with no maximum age limits on its products.

The core product is a long-term, fixed-rate mortgage with terms of up to 40 years. This provides borrowers with payment certainty for the entire duration of their loan, protecting them from interest rate volatility. A key feature is the flexibility; while the rate is fixed for the loan's life, the early repayment charge (ERC) period is only five years, after which customers can remortgage without penalty. By removing the long-term interest rate risk for the borrower, Perenna's model allows for potentially higher loan-to-income ratios—up to six times income, subject to criteria—thereby improving affordability for buyers. The mortgages are distributed through a network of authorized brokers.

Keywords: mortgage bank, covered bonds, long-term fixed-rate mortgages, fintech, home financing, property finance, mortgage lending, UK housing market, financial services, homeowner loans