WEBINARS ON DEMAND:
ROYAL LONDON
Business Health Check
LEEDS BUILDING SOCIETY
Shared Ownership
ROYAL LONDON
Business Protection
LATEST PARTNER BLOGS:
FLEET
Looking Ahead At The BTL Market In 2023
KEYSTONE
Multi-Title Split For Portfolio Landlord
GUARDIAN
It’s Time To Get On The Front Foot
Impact Specialist Finacne
Looking for a solution to improve a property? Give Impact a call today!
Are your clients looking to update a property or improve its value? If yes, have they considered Light Refurbishment Finance?
Light refurbishment typically covers situations where a property requires a cosmetic upgrade or modernisation and perhaps minor improvements such as a new kitchen and/or bathroom.
Impact Specialist Finance has access to a comprehensive panel of bridging lenders. We have built strong relationships with these lenders who will take a view on all aspects of an individual case, including limited distribution lenders.
Access a fast bridging solution, call the Impact Bridging team on 01403 272625 or email bridging@impactsf.co.uk
Leeds Building Society
Our latest green home initiative improves affordability for energy efficient new builds.
We now have access to more detailed data about projected energy savings for some new build homes, so we’ve improved our affordability assessment – making energy efficient new builds a more attractive option for homebuyers.
What this means:
- The affordability improvement applies to purchases on new build homes where the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating is A or B
- It allows homebuyers to borrow more for an energy efficient new build home than for a less energy efficient property
How it works
For example, a customer seeking a mortgage up to 75% LTV (loan to value) against a new build flat valued at £220,000 could borrow £173,321. – They could only borrow £149,261 on a non-new build property.
This is now available through our affordability calculator found HERE! For new build, select ‘2020 Onwards’ when asked to provide year property was built.
It’s another innovative step in both our journey to reach carbon net zero, and our aim to put home ownership within reach of more people.
Want more information?
If you have any questions, please contact your BDM. Alternatively, call our Head Office BDMs on 0345 045 4050.
Secure a new mortgage deal sooner
We know that securing a new deal for your clients sooner is important, so following broker and member feedback we’ve increased our Product Transfer window from 90 to 180 days before the end of a customer’s current product.
With continued uncertainty around the cost of living, our new six-month Product Transfer window could help support your clients in a potentially challenging time and give them greater peace of mind.
In most cases, you can request a transfer for your client quickly and easily online. There are no conveyancing, valuation or legal fees and we’ll pay you a 0.20% procurement fee.
Need some help?
Take a look at our Product Transfer factsheet and our Product Transfer FAQs. If you have a question that’s not answered there, drop your BDM a line.
OSB Group
Buy to let opportunities in 2023 – Register for the OSB Group webinar
Want to know the future of buy to let?
Join OSB Group, comprised of Precise Mortgages, Kent Reliance for Intermediaries and InterBay, on Tuesday 7 March at 11.00am to find out how the continued professionalisation of the sector is impacting demand for mortgage products and advice. This webinar will look at the important developments in the buy to let industry including landlords’ motivations, objectives and plans for the future.
The session, in partnership with Specialist Lending Solutions, will cover:
- How the buy to let landscape is evolving
- New opportunities and challenges faced by professional landlords
- Strategies to improve and grow your business
Hear from expert speakers:
- Jon Hall, Group Managing Director, Mortgages and Savings, OSB Group
- Neil Chambers, Senior Associate, Sirius Group UK
- Paula John, Director, Paula John Communications
If you haven’t seen the Landlord Leaders report yet, download it now
Adverse credit stopping your customer getting a residential mortgage?
With the average cost of a UK home now standing at £295,000*, Precise Mortgages know how difficult it can be to secure a residential mortgage, particularly for those with less-than-perfect credit histories. It’s why we’ve launched our residential mortgage range which provides options for those with active and satisfied DMPs, CCJs, defaults and secured/unsecured arrears.
Here’s how we could help:
- You’re approached by a couple with two young children who’re looking for a residential mortgage to help them buy a family home.
- They’ve found a three-bedroom property worth £300,000 and have £45,000 in equity from the sale of their existing property to put down as a deposit.
- Unfortunately the couple have experienced some financial difficulties in the past which have left a mark on their credit record.
- Although they took responsibility for their finances and entered into a DMP 18 months ago, the arrangement means they’re struggling to find a lender willing to support them.
- You know that Precise Mortgages’ residential range provides options for customers with less-than-perfect credit histories, including those with active DMPs.
Take a look at our residential mortgages product guide
We’re able to offer the customers a 2-year fixed rate mortgage at 85% LTV. The product features a refund of the valuation fee (up to a maximum of £630), helping to keep costs to a minimum.
Also, you can take advantage of our automated cascade system, where cases are filtered until an appropriate product is found, without the need to reapply. It’s a real time saver, especially with more complex cases.
To find out more about how we could help, speak with your business development manager, call our dedicated support service on 0800 116 4385 or contact us using Live Chat.
* https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/housepriceindex/october2022
Mansfield Building Society
Versatile lenders can help new build buyers
The coming 12 months promise to be a time of change for the new build market. For almost a decade, this segment of the property world has had the helping hand of the Help to Buy scheme.
And it has been an incredibly effective helping hand, with the most recent data from the Government showing that since its launch in 2013 the Help to Buy equity loan scheme has assisted with the purchase of a whopping 369,000 properties, with the total value of those properties coming to an enormous £103.2 billion.
However, the Help to Buy scheme is now nearing its end. Applications had to be in by the end of October 2022, with completions required to meet a 31 March 2023 deadline. The only thing brokers can do now with Help to Buy cases is to try to rally the parties involved in order to meet that deadline.
Legal & General Protection
Are you an adviser wanting to start recommending Business Protection?
If so, this episode of Just Covered is for you…Hazel and Wayne welcome back Adrian Benjamin a Wealth Protection Adviser with Precise Protect. Back when we first filmed with Adrian, he mentioned his goal of entering the Business Protection market and we wanted to invite him in to hear how his first 6 months is going…
Within Legal and General’s State of the Nation business research we discover how many businesses have debt and how many would be forced to cease trading within 12 months if they lost a key person. Advisers are ideally placed to help businesses understand the uncertainty of risks, and to make the right decisions in protecting themselves against certain unexpected and in many cases unforeseen events.
In this episode we cover:
- Why Adrian feels business protection is a useful product to have in your toolkit
- The transferable skills Adrian feels set him up for success in this area
- An outline of the peaks and troughs within the first six months of Adrian starting business protection
- How Adrian developed his learning and CPD to be best placed to give this advice.
Lendinvest
What is happening with private rental EPC changes, and what should brokers do?
What’s going on with private rental EPC changes? Amid confusion and the prospect of high costs for landlords, our Commercial Director takes a look at where we’re at.
Foundation Home Loans
Monitoring the rental costs and tenant demand trends
Costs are rising, and tenant demand holds strong – so where will landlords increase rents? Our latest Landlord Panel research in partnership with BVA BDRC for Q4 2022 offers an array of pertinent insights into performance and sentiment in the BTL marketplace.
The past few months have certainly proved a tricky period for landlords and advisers to keep track of events and influencing factors in the BTL sector. Meaning this is an opportune time to outline some overall and regional trends heading into 2023.
Aldermore
Support for landlords – see how Aldermore can help!
We reduced rates across our buy to let mortgage range on Thursday, 23 February, to help support more of your buy to let clients. We also introduced new buy to let rates for properties with an EPC rating of A, B or C and you’ll find details of all our new rates below.
So, whether your client is a first-time landlord or looking to expand their property portfolio,
let’s see how we could help.
How we support buy to let landlords…
- We lend on most types of properties from standard flats / houses to HMO and multi units under one title
- There’s no background portfolio limits
- We’ll consider lending to first time landlords with a minimum income of £25K
- We’ll consider an existing landlord with a minimum of 6 months’ letting history
- We allow top slicing on a wide range of income types
- We build rental growth into our buy to let calculator, which supports the security and background portfolio
- We’ll accept up to 30 properties on a single application – that means one LTV, one set of documents, one account, one Direct Debit
- We’ll consider SPV and trading company buy to let
MPowered
Ready for our February Newsletter?
Your February edition of our monthly newsletter is here. And it’s a big one. New branding, new criteria, and our biggest news – going whole-of-market with our residential products.
Catch up with all our updates right here.
Our prime residential products go whole of market
Almost a year ago, we launched into the prime residential mortgage market with a select number of brokers.
We’re delighted to have expanded the distribution of our prime residential range to the whole of the market, meaning all brokers now have access to our products.
Not yet registered with us? Create your MPowered account today:
New products, new criteria
We’re continuing to develop our residential offering to respond to the needs of homebuyers and remortgagers. This month, we’ve:
• Launched new £1,999 arrangement fee options, aimed at larger loans
• Upped our max loan-to-income multiple to 5.5x for employed income
• Kept rates as low as possible, reducing them by up to 0.70%
Ready to give us a go?
We’ve had a bit of a makeover
New look. New approach. Same vision. Bringing mortgages into the 21st century and modernising the process has always been our goal – and it was time to modernise our look too.
Want to learn more? Read our blog to hear more about our new brand and identity, and what this means for you going forward.
Key Group
The countdown is on! Register for the Air Academy Summit: Navigating the Market
One week to go until the first virtual Air Academy Summit of 2023.
Join hosts Rebecca Perfect and Air’s Distribution Director, Jon Tweed LIVE on Thursday 9th March 2023 at 2pm where they’ll be talking to a lender panel of the industry’s leading experts from LV, LiveMore and Just. The aim of this Summit is to help advisers and adviser networks navigate the ‘new normal’ of the market, reflecting on the first part of year and what is predicted as we move further into 2023.
The panel will be discussing the current and future evolution of the later life lending market.
They’ll also be talking about product innovations, consumer behaviour, insights into the lender world, Consumer Duty and much more! There will be the opportunity to ask our panel your burning questions.
This is a virtual event not to be missed!
Kensington Mortgages
Understanding changing customer behaviours: The opportunity for business growth
There’s just one week left to register for Kensington Mortgages’ next webinar, featuring industry experts from Rightmove and Legal & General. They’re thrilled to also be joined by ITV’s This Morning’s resident psychologist Emma Kenny, with all three looking at changing customer behaviours and the opportunities they present to help you grow your business.
BARCLAYS BANK UK PLC AND KENSINGTON MORTGAGES
We are delighted to inform our broker partners that following regulatory approval, Kensington Mortgages is now part of Barclays Bank UK PLC (Barclays Bank UK). This is an exciting time for our business and in an evolving specialist lending market, the support of Barclays, a major UK bank, will enable us to broaden our reach and focus on continuing to provide innovative mortgage solutions to meet the needs of the growing number of people with complex circumstances.
On a day-to-day basis, you will see no change arising from the sale. The Kensington brand will remain, and our BDM and sales teams will continue to provide you with first class service and support. Our products can still be accessed on sourcing systems, and you can submit your cases in the usual way on the Kensington broker portal.
We understand that you and your clients may have some questions about the sale, so we have put together a list of handy FAQs below.
The Mortgage Lender
2023 Tax Changes for Holiday Let Landlords
Over the last couple of years, the number of properties used as holiday has grown across the UK. While many landlords have enjoyed the opportunity of renting property to holidaymakers, the UK government has made steps to tighten the loop on tax. Which might raise questions amongst your clients about the ongoing profitability of this sector.
Find out the specifics of how the industry has grown along with the motivations for change and geographical nuances of what’s on the horizon.
Pure Retirement
Newsletter content for next week
We’re pleased to announce we’ve seen a milestone 1,000 customers register and interact with its online account management platform, MyPure, in under 5 months. This figure has been achieved despite a measured, deliberately staggered customer communication programme designed to gauge consumer appetite and ensure platform stability.
Launched last year as an industry first, MyPure enables customers to self-manage key elements of their lifetime mortgages, view their account balances and transactions, download documents such as annual statements, be notified of new documents becoming available, and complete their Certificate of Continuing Occupancy online.
Drawdown plan holders can apply for a cash release, while all plan holders can make ad-hoc payments directly via MyPure, and set up recurring payment schedules such as Direct Debits.
Headline figures since launch include:
- 410 COCOs completed
- 161 Cash Release applications submitted
- 44 one-off optional repayments made
- 32 direct debits arranged
Vida Homeloans
The specialist lender you’ve always dreamed of
We’re always dreaming big at Vida.
Which is why we’ve made some fantastic changes to transform how we support you and your customers.
- We’ve enhanced our criteria across the board.
- We’ve launched new products for residential and buy to let.
And that’s not all…
We’ve been dreaming about how we can make a real commitment to you. So, we are introducing the most comprehensive service pledge ever seen at Vida!
So, what does It mean for you? We promise to provide you with excellent service in every step of your application and case journey with us. If you feel like you haven’t received a high level of service from Vida and the V-Hub team, we’ll refund the £180 administration fee. It really is that simple!*
And remember, our V-Hub team and Underwriters are on hand to help you at every stage. So why wouldn’t you come to Vida with your next case?
With our proposition, rates and service, we’re the specialist lender you’ve always dreamed of.
Zephyr Homeloans
Video’s and Guides
Zephyr Homeloans have launched a new series of short videos to provide useful hints and tips for brokers. The new videos cover subjects such as top slicing, limited companies, portfolio cross-subsidisation and much more and are no longer than two minutes, so it’s a quick and easy way for you to build your knowledge.
Zephyr will release a new video each week, so check their website often to watch them here, or sign-up to their email newsletter here to be kept up to date.
