Inform 19th April 2024

Fleet Mortgages

Rental Barometer Q1 2024

The buy-to-let (BTL) market started the first quarter of 2024 in what feels like a period of renewed optimism, driven by the significant and continued reductions to SWAP rates throughout December, with many lenders starting the year by lowering interest rates, resulting in improved affordability/borrowing potential for landlords.

Read the full report here.

Paragon

How to prepare for the influx of buy-to-let maturities in 2024

Data from UK Finance shows that 2024 will be a key year for landlords coming to the end of their current mortgage product terms.

• Over 200,000 – Fixed rate buy-to-let mortgages set to mature in 2024
• Approximately £40bn – Worth of buy-to-let maturities due this year

With rates lower than 2023, now’s a great time to explore all available opportunities for your clients.

With so many maturities due in 2024, it’s important to consider all options to avoid landlords reverting to the standard variable rates (SVR) on their products.

A product transfer is a great way to avoid these additional costs, but they’re not the only option out there – remortgaging may be a great solution for some landlords.

If you’ve got a client who’s looking to raise some additional funds for property improvements or portfolio expansion, remortgaging may be a good option for them where they can access equity and capitalise on new opportunities.

Considering that 37% of portfolio landlords are set to expand their portfolios in 2024 and 61% of landlords plan to purchase with a mortgage, now is the time to speak to your clients and explore the opportunities available to them.

Want to know more?
Your Regional Manager will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and you can find the contact details of your RM using our online postcode on our website. Find your RM here.

Barclays Mortgage

Policy Changes

We regularly review our policy to ensure we’re delivering the right outcomes for customers. Please see below for key changes effective from Wednesday 10th April.

Removed cap on builder incentives
For residential applications, we will no longer limit new-build developer/ builder financial incentives to 5%, instead, where the incentive is more than 5% of the full purchase price or valuation (whichever is lower) any amount greater than 5% will be deducted from the valuation amount before calculating the maximum LTV.

Example (new-build house):
• Lower of Valuation/ purchase price: £200,000 (valuation)
• Builder cash Incentive: £22,000 (this equates to 11% of the valuation)
• Incentive amount in excess of 5% limit: £12,000 (6%). This must then be deducted from the valuation of £200,000: £200,000 – £12,000 = £188,000
• Maximum loan: £169,200 (90% of £188,000). Refer to the Residential Mortgage Manual for the prevailing maximum LTV.
• Applicants must contribute at least 5% (of the purchase price) towards the deposit from their own funds, this may include a gift from a relative.

Reduced the minimum UK residency requirement
For residential applications, we have reduced the residency requirement for UK residents without Permanent Right to Reside (PRR) status from 2 years to 12 months for all customers applying for a Residential Mortgage.

Buy-To-Let minimum age
We have reduced the minimum age for Buy-To-Let applications from 21 to 18.

Explore our full mortgage policy here.

Legal & General

We’re upgrading your quote and apply experience

You stated that you needed a platform that’s more intuitive, more modern, and more effective for your business.

Launched last week is the first of many improvements to our OLP Connect system in 2024, starting with our brand new Protection Dashboard, a simpler, more streamlined way for you to manage your customer applications.

What’s new?

• Brand new modern, sleeker design improving navigation.
• Easier access to quotes, applications, and existing business
• Clearer statuses so you know where your applications are in the underwriting journey.

Watch now – System videos | Adviser Protection | Legal & General (legalandgeneral.com) 

Keeping them cared for
Because we know nurturing clients is as important as attracting new ones you will also see improvements to our Existing Business agent hub.

This update will include:

• New additional benefits tab
• New policy status indicator
• New action needed indicator
• Details of the original underwriting decision, including rating and exclusion wording

View now System videos | Adviser Protection | Legal & General (legalandgeneral.com)

If you have any feedback or queries on these changes please contact your Business Development Manager, who will be happy to help.

e.surv Chartered Surveyors

Designed with your customers in mind

Want to make your customers’ lives even easier? Here’s a product we’ve designed with them in mind: the HomePlus Digital Home Survey.

It offers a host of benefits; below are just a handful:

• It’s digitally interactive, allowing your customers to find the information they need, quickly and easily, via a mobile, tablet or desktop
• It comes with energy performance reporting as standard
• Property defects are ranked – via a handy ‘Traffic Light’ system – according to their severity, with clear photographs used to highlight any issues
• Defects and details can be easily shared directly with tradespeople, while legal issues can be sent to conveyancers
• Surveys are carried out within just two days*.

There’s more…your customers also receive a PDF copy of the report, ready to download and keep.

Refer today.

*2023 average, surveys were carried out and delivered within two days.

Vitality

Rethinking mortgage protection

With Consumer Duty putting the spotlight on the need for protection, it’s got many of us thinking about opportunities to grow the market. But in light of changing regulations, alongside evolving consumer needs, ‘is it time to rethink mortgage protection?’ asks Vitality’s Nick Telfer.

Read the article.

First2Protect

WIN a £1,000 holiday voucher!

We are First2Protect, property insurance specialists with over three decades of experience in our field. A panel of leading insurer providers underwriting on our exclusive products, dealing with both standard cases and more complex, specialist risks.

We work in close partnership with brokers across the country to help them maximise their GI potential, allowing them to focus on what they do best whilst knowing that their customers’ GI needs are being fully taken care of.

If that sounds good to you, we’d love for you to give us a try – and we’ll even reward you for doing so!

Submit a quote, take one step closer to your dream holiday.

It’s as simple as that. For every quote you submit to us between 16th April and 30th June 2024, we’ll enter you into our prize draw to win a £1,000 holiday voucher. Just so we are clear, that means that if you submit five quotes during this time period, you will receive five entries into our prize draw, greatly increasing your chances of winning.

You’ll have a choice between a cosy log cabin staycation set in gorgeous UK countryside or a jet-setting holiday abroad in one of hundreds of destinations around the world.

To register with us click here.

Details and T&Cs are on their website Work With Us – First2Protect

LV=

Claims performance

LV= paid out £135 million in personal protection claims in 2023. More importantly, that’s over 8,000 individuals and families who were supported by protection at a difficult time in their lives.

Find out how LV= supported at claim and beyond in their new claims report.

Zurich

Cracked our new Critical Illness proposition?

We hope you’ve enjoyed an egg-cellent Easter break, spending some downtime with family and friends.

Now that we’re back to it, have you cracked our new Critical Illness proposition yet?

• With 3 tiers of adult cover, Zurich allows you to craft bespoke cover for your customers.
• Critical Illness Enhanced Plus has additional payments which pay out up to £50,000 and a Benefit Uplift that pays out up to an additional £200,000.
• Children’s Cover gives the flexibility to choose a cover amount between £10,000 – £100,000. All conditions are paid out at the chosen sum assured.
• You can add Children’s Cover to an Adult Life Only plan.
• Our definition of children has been extended to include children of partners.
• We have a Pregnancy and Early Childhood option for those starting or growing a family that includes Premature Birth Hospital Stay Benefit.

How many of these benefits did you know? Were you an egg-head, or were you all in a scramble?

If you would like to discuss with our protection team, speak to your usual Zurich contact, or click here and we’ll get in touch.

Suffolk Building Society

Helping expat clients land that mortgage.

According to the latest figures available from the Office of National Statistics, around 90,000 Brits emigrate long-term from the UK every year. Many of this group will want or need to keep a foothold in the UK’s property market. And some won’t even be aware that they need to consider an expat mortgage, let alone be knowledgeable about the different types available.

Unlike standard resi or BTL mortgages, expat mortgages don’t get much airtime in the consumer media. So, clients who are thinking about moving abroad for work, family, or retirement reasons could be forgiven if they aren’t very well informed.

Suitable for an individual or family who usually live abroad and use the property when they’re in the UK.

It’s true to say that expats will find they have less choice for mortgages than a standard UK applicant. Brexit has also led to there being fewer lenders in the sector, particularly those willing to lend in Europe. Help is at hand though, with specialist lenders, and some building societies, offering products. There are three main types of expat mortgage:

1. Expat residential mortgages do what they say on the tin – they’re residential homes for expats. They may be suitable for an individual or family who usually live abroad and use the property when they’re in the UK. Or maybe the family remains in their UK home, while one member works abroad.

2. Expat buy to let properties may have been purchased with the sole intention of being a rental and providing an income. Or, they may have previously been the expat’s main home. Owning an expat buy to let means the expat:

• potentially* has a property to return to
• retains a foothold on the UK property ladder with an asset that may increase in value
• generates an additional income

Whether the house was previously the expat’s home, or was purchased as a buy to let, will determine the type of expat buy to let mortgage required – either ‘consumer’ or ‘standard’.

3. If an expat thinks they will make short visits back to the UK, would prefer to live in their own home when they do, and would also like additional income, it’s worth considering an expat holiday let mortgage. This type of mortgage permits the homeowner to rent the property out on a short-term basis, via Airbnb or similar. It also allows the mortgage holder to occupy the property for a set number of days – often between 30 and 90 days per year. That’s usually plenty of time for expats to visit and keep in touch with family and friends in the UK.

Discussing all these options with your client will help ensure they select the best expat mortgage for their circumstances. In our experience, few expats are aware that holiday let is an option. However, it is often a good halfway house where the property is let and generates an income, but also provides a base for when they’re back in the UK.