LATEST PARTNER BLOGS:
Hodge
Another Key Criteria Enhancement
The Mortgage Lender
Support BTL Clients Better
More2life
Unlock New Possibilities For Your Later Life Clients
Standard Life Home Finance
Walking In The Shoes Of Today’s RIO Customer
Coventry For Intermediaries
Beyond the bricks: what does a green housing market really look like?
Research from Coventry for intermediaries has revealed that there is a clear generational difference in attitude when it comes to making green improvements to properties.
Coventry’s report, Beyond the bricks: what does a green housing market really look like?, will help brokers to better understand how to position green home improvement products in line with borrower opinion and demand by highlighting key trends and attitudes towards making homes more sustainable.
The research shows:
- 98% of homeowners surveyed aged 18-34 said they’d make green changes to their property if they had the option to
- Over a quarter (26%) of those aged 55+ said that they would not make any green home improvements to their property if they had the option to
- 40% of homeowners said that the main reason they would make eco-friendly changes to their home would be to save money on energy-bills
- only 11% of homeowners said that they would make changes with the benefit to the environment being the main reason for change.
- Over two-thirds (67%) of respondents in the survey also reported that they think green home improvements will increase the value of their property over time.
OSB Group
Find out what tenants REALLY think about the private rented sector
With one in five people* in the UK now renting a property from a private landlord, it’s never been more important for landlords to understand the private rented sector from the tenant perspective.
The Landlord Leaders playbook takes a deep-dive into how the ever-changing landscape is affecting the foundations of the industry and how the sector can best serve tenants today and in the future.
The playbook is brought to you using research from OSB Group and the Landlord Leaders community. Convened by OSB Group, the community is made up of group industry individuals and organisations focused on creating a fairer and more sustainable private rented sector, whilst spreading a more positive message about its future.
In the playbook, you’ll find out more about:
- The tenant experience
- Why location is key
- The lure of homeownership
- The financial balancing act
Loughborough Building Society
Criteria Change
Following feedback from our panel members I am pleased to announce a positive policy change around newly qualified professionals.
We will now accept an application from a newly qualified professional in the below occupations up to 95% – they don’t have to have any employment history so can come straight out of UNI and even have a job waiting for them in 3 months times. For example, Medical Doctor qualifies in May with no employment history and has a contract of employment within the occupation to start in August is acceptable.
This applies across all product types and 5.5x income if they have the deposit of 20%
- Medical Doctor
- Medical consultant/Surgeon
- Anaesthetist
- Optometrist
- Solicitor
- Barrister
- Dentist
- Vet
- Pilot
- Accountant
** please note only the above occupations are acceptable under this criteria **
Virgin Money
Helping you help your vulnerable customers
We know you care about getting great outcomes for your customers, and we do too – especially those who need extra support.
That’s why we’ve just launched a new service, exclusively for our brokers, which is designed to help your customers. If you feel a customer needs extra support once their mortgage has completed, you can pass their details to us, with just a few clicks.
How we can help
Once you’ve completed our simple online form, one of our customer care specialists will contact the customer to chat through their circumstances. This is to get a better understanding of how we can help them manage their mortgage. There’s a range of support options available, tailored to their needs, that may be able to help.
This should give your customers some peace of mind, and you too, knowing they’re in good hands.
How to refer
To use this service, you’ll need your customer’s consent first.
Once they’ve agreed, use this form to give us their details, and we’ll take it from there.
If they would prefer not to receive help this way, you can always point them towards our support hub.
We believe banking and financial services are for everyone, and that our new service will help us work together to deliver better outcomes for more of your vulnerable customers.
LV=
Doctor Services
The colder months usually bring around coughs, colds, and illnesses. Don’t forget to remind your clients of how LV= Doctor Services is there for them. With unlimited Remote GP appointments available 24/7, your client can get quick support this flu season. Offered at no extra cost with all new LV= protection policies. Learn more about the support included: https://bit.ly/3t3K0Vk
Pepper Money
Specialist Lending Study
Pepper Money has continued their partnership with YouGov to release their seventh primary research report. This year’s edition is their most comprehensive yet, with more than 6,000 people surveyed, which is a nationally representative sample of the adult population.
The findings are staggering, with 15.16 million people being found to have a history of adverse credit – missed credit payments, Defaults, CCJs, unsecured arrears, secured arrears or entered a DMP.
Green shoots for brokers
According to the study, 13% of those who have experienced adverse credit in the last three years say that they intend to purchase a property in the next 12 months, which equates to just over 900,000 potential mortgage customers with adverse credit in the coming year.
Of those people who are planning to buy a property in the next 12 months, 58% say they would speak to a mortgage broker. This is up from 24% last year, so the message is getting out there about the importance of brokers and their advice.
Legal & General
Jingle Learn, Jingle Learn, Jingle all the way…
Join us for Jingle Learn this Christmas from the 11th-14th December – a webinar series reflecting on the positives of this year and setting you up for success in 2024.
Each of our 4 webinars will cover a different theme, helping you to find new ways of positioning protection with families, mortgage, wealth and business clients. Join these structured CPD sessions to:
- Find new ways of developing frameworks for mortgage clients
- Demonstrate how protection policies could be used in estate planning
- Identify new opportunities to protect your client’s businesses
Chorley Building Society
Later Life Lending Proposition
After a review of our Later Life lending proposition, we have changed the age criteria for Later Life products. Borrowers aged up to 75 can apply for our standard mortgage products range.
Our Later Life lending mortgage products are now available to borrowers who are aged 75 or over on application or will be aged 75 at the end of the mortgage term.
This accommodates those people in non-manual roles who work up to the age of 75.
With this change in lending criteria we have launched two new products:
🏠 Later Life 2 Year Discount – 60% LTV
🏠 Later Life 2 Year Discount – 80% LTV
For more details, please visit www.chorleybs.co.uk/intermediary or give the team a call on 01257 235 001
Market Harborough Building Society
Real bridging finance case to fix a chain break – from application to offer in six days
Recently, we’ve seen a rise in bridging enquiries to help fix chain breaks as it allows the client to buy their next home before selling their current property. To bring this to life we’re sharing a recent case that went from application to offer in just six days.
Here, our dedicated bridging team pulled out all the stops to help a couple buying their dream home in the country, whose property chain had fallen through. They worked with our intermediary partner to provide a bridging loan with rolled-up interest for 12 months.
Progressing from application to offer in just six days was made possible thanks to receiving a well-packaged application from the intermediary involved and both our case manager and underwriter working side by side, going above and beyond to meet the deadline. An AVM and dual representation were also used.
Twenty7Tec
Monthly Mortgage Report
Earlier this week Twenty7Tec released their latest Monthly Mortgage Report, November 2023.
Here are some highlights from them,
- Purchase mortgage searches were static in November 2023 compared to October 2023
- Remortgage searches were up 9.9% compared to October 2023
- Buy To Let mortgage searches were up 1.61% nationwide in November 2023 compared to October 2023 (but up 11.1% in London compared to the prior month)
- Searches by First Time Buyers were down 1.3% nationwide in November 2023 compared to October 2023
- Searches for fixed mortgage products in November 2023
- Two-year fixed mortgages accounted for 47.54% of all fixed product searches in November 2023
- Three- to five-year fixed mortgages accounted for 32.9% of all fixed product searches
- Five- to ten-year fixed mortgages now account for 19.1%, the lowest proportion for at least two years
If you would like to read the full report, download their latest Activity Report here.
Vitality
Cover that rewards your clients for being healthy – and supports them when they’re not.
No-one can predict when they might get an injury, disability or illness. However, you can help your clients prepare with the right cover should they need it. Our cover is tailored to a range of occupations and offers increased flexibility – which is more important now than ever before.
Why recommend our cover?
- Guarantee your clients payout: Lock in your client’s earnings up to £8,000 a month from day one
- Access to our healthcare network: With our Recovery Benefit, we can help your clients with their recovery through physio, therapy and cancer support
- Boost your clients’ monthly payout by up to an extra 20%: With our Income Boost, the more your clients look after their health, the bigger their payout for six months.
Supporting your client conversations
We’ve developed a bespoke toolkit for you to use when discussing our cover with your clients, which you can access here.
Watch on-demand: Growing your protection business in a challenging market
Catch up on the first edition of our new webinar series, ‘Forward Thinking with Vitality’, where our panel of industry experts explored how advisers can maximise the opportunities, to ensure their businesses thrive in an ever-challenging market, whilst delivering the best outcomes for their clients.
TSB
Improvements to interest only policy
From today, 7 December, TSB will accept the sale of the security property for Residential interest only lending.
Summary of TSB’s Residential interest only policy:
- Sale of the security property now acceptable – minimum £300k equity and maximum 60% LTV* (up to 75% LTV if part repayment, part interest only).
- Up to 75% LTV for all other repayment vehicles.
- Maximum term 30 years.
- Maximum age at the end of the term is 70 or applicant’s anticipated retirement age (whichever is lower).
- Minimum income £75k sole or £100k joint.
- Private pension accepted as repayment security based on projected lump sum*.
TSB’s affordability calculator has also been updated to accept interest only lending enquiries. The actual loan amount available is subject to usual underwriting requirements, and a successful credit search.
*Subject to criteria. See TSB’s website for more information. Interest only mortgages | TSB Intermediaries
For more information, please contact your National Account Manager.
Source Insurance
Source Insurance welcomes Insurer Hosted Pricing (IHP) to their home insurance panel as a market first
Source has strengthened its relationship with LV= Broker, revealing the insurer as the second underwriter of Source’s Common Policy Wording – Source Home.
Source Home is the first home insurance product created by the team at Source Insurance and signifies the beginning of their highly anticipated product and risk expansion.
LV= Broker brings Insurer Hosted Pricing (IHP) to the partnership. This capability provides pricing calculated at a more granular level and aims to deliver the best results for consumers across a wide range of postcodes. IHP will also provide LV= Broker with a deeper level of information about the performance of its insurance products and the ability to update rates faster and more frequently.
Carl Oakes, Sales Director at Source Insurance, tells us about Source’s latest development:
“LV= Broker has been a valued strategic partner of Source for a number of years. This collaboration strengthens this relationship whilst providing our adviser partners with greater choice and price competitiveness in what is currently a tough market. At Source, we have already announced some exciting new enhancements to our proposition this year, and with IHP delivering greater pricing sophistication and lots more planned for the next couple of months, the focus continues to be on developing products and services to truly support our advisers and their customers”.
Darren Prior, Head of Regional & Specialist Brokers at LV= Broker, expands on this:
“Over the last few months, it’s been great working with the team at Source developing this new proposition. We’re delighted to be their first partner to use Insurer Hosted Pricing to make sure customers continue to receive our most sophisticated rates. We’re pleased to continue our long-standing partnership by collaborating as they launch Source Home to the adviser market.”
