North accounts for 5% of Nama's total loan portfolio

LOANS ACQUIRED by Nama solely in Northern Ireland currently total £3.35 billion (€4 billion), the agency has confirmed.

Ronnie Hanna, the agency’s head of credit and risk, said the loans had been acquired from 180 debtors and represented 5 per cent of Nama’s total loan portfolio.

At a housing sector conference in Belfast yesterday, Mr Hanna said undeveloped land in the North accounted for £2 billion of loans under its control.

A further £1 billion was tied up in investment properties while property and land under development accounted for about £350 million of its Northern Ireland loan portfolio.

The agency has also outlined that out of the £3.35 billion in loans which have been transferred to Nama, 60 per cent of these relate to land that is not under development.

However, commercial investments represent 29 per cent of the loan portfolio, 10 per cent of land is currently under development and just 1 per cent relates to loans associated with residential development.

When it comes to which towns and cities are most affected by the transfer of developers’ loans to Nama, Belfast is by far in pole position.

According to Mr Hanna, just under one-third of Nama’s loan portfolio by value is located in Belfast, compared to 21 per cent in Co Down and 19 per cent in Co Antrim. The city of Derry accounts for just 2 per cent of Nama’s total Northern Ireland portfolio but Co Derry can lay claim to 8 per cent by value. Both Co Tyrone and Co Fermanagh share an equal 7 per cent of Nama’s loan portfolio while Co Armagh represents 4 per cent.

Mr Hanna has pledged that the agency would “assist in the stabilisation of the property market in Northern Ireland” by providing liquidity to the market and “by being able to take a longer term approach where necessary”.

“Nama is part of the solution to the current difficulties in the Northern Ireland market. Nama is an asset-management vehicle and, contrary to how it is portrayed in some quarters, it is not a ‘toxic bank’,” Mr Hanna added. “We have the capacity to take a longer-term view of the loans we take on, if it makes commercial sense, and our timeframe is to manage and realise the loans and the property held as collateral for the loans over a seven- to 10-year time period.”

He said Nama had a “neutral view” on all markets.