Inform 19th November 2021

This past week has been a week of celebrations and to top off the celebrations, last night we won the Precise Mortgages Mortgage Club of the Year award!

Thank you to the whole of our membership for your ongoing support!

The Mortgage Strategy Awards will be held on Wednesday 25 May 2022!

The self-nomination stage is now open! Put your company forward for consideration in the next stage of the process, the public vote.

We’ve made a few changes to the categories this year including splitting the ‘Best Mortgage Broker’ into three categories based on size. We will now have:

Best Mortgage Broker (less than 8 advisers) (previously Best Small Broker)
Best Mortgage Broker (80-50 advisers)
Best Mortgage Broker (50 or more advisers)

The process is simple. All you need to do is tell us which category/ies you want to self-nominate in by selecting the relevant category/ies, creating an account and completing a short form. Be sure to read the following before submitting your nomination:

Entry FAQs
Entry process overview
Rules and guidelines for entry

All self-nominations will be verified by the Mortgage Strategy editorial team before being taken through to the public vote. Companies receiving the highest number of votes will then be contacted to complete an entry form.

Self Nominate Now

Please note – only one self-nomination per company is required and nominations will close on Friday 10 December 2021.

If you need any support with your submission or have any questions about the process, please get in touch with Charlotte.CoveyCrump@emap.com.

From Wednesday 17th November MBS Lending has launched a brand new mortgage application portal. MBS have partnered with a new fintech to provide this solution which will significantly improve the application journey for our broker partners and remove our existing paper based processes.

This new system will enable you to access their new online affordability calculator, submit a DIP, submit and application, upload documents and produce an ESIS online – all in one easy to access place. You will also be able to track your applications through to mortgage offer from the portal.

You can register and login tot he new portal by clicking here or from the home page on their website.

We are delighted to announce that NatWest will acquire and complete legal title of transfer of 13,000 mortgages with the value of £3bn from Metro Bank on Monday 22^nd November.

What you need to know:
From the 22^nd November customers will start to receive NatWest roll off letters inviting them to complete their product transfer application.

We will be introducing a temporary product transfer journey until Feb 2022 before the digital solution will be available.

The key changes are:

• You will need to source ‘NatWest’ as current lender for these customers and not ‘Metro’
• This will allow you to select the existing product transfer portfolio of rates & customers will not need to go through affordability and credit score requirements
• A new paper based product transfer form will need to be completed for the application submissions. This can be found in on our Forms and Guides page and also the A-Z section under ‘Product transfer’, and will be available from Monday 22^nd November
• Once submitted the SLA will be 3 working days
• Where the customer is looking to overpay on their mortgage prior to completing the product transfer they will need to call our NatWest Operations team directly on 0345 600 0205. This overpayment will take effect within 48 hours, following this you can complete the product transfer form
• We will also have a ring-fenced team in our Mortgage Customer Centre to support with these queries. The dedicated phone number is 0345 600 0205.

Please find some FAQs for further support.

It is very important the above process is followed, failure to do this will result in an incorrect remortgage application being submitted, which will be re-turned for resubmission of the correct product transfer application.

At 5.00pm today, Friday 19th November, the Pure Retirement portal will be unavailable, this will continue until Saturday at 4pm, while improvements are put in place.

Pure retirement apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Do your clients have a dream of home improvements?

With Bank of England interest rates expected to rise, now is the perfect opportunity to improve the space we live in making it enjoyable for all the family and investing in the future.

Did you know?

Despite a third of all homeowners recognising that a remortgage would save them money, a recent study by Barclays* suggested almost half (49%) of all homeowners have never remortgaged.

So why remortgage?

Remortages can help your clients in many ways to access equity in their home. Whether they need a lump sum to consolidate existing debts, make home improvements or simply want to enjoy better rates, remortgaging can help.

How can we help?

Mr C and Miss D were looking to raise funds for home improvements and remortgage from their existing lender to save money.

They were finding it difficult to find a lender that could help them due to a satisfied default (communications) in June 2019 and late payments on a utility bill in 2018.

They were looking for 80% LTV to repay their existing mortgage plus to raise some additional money for their home improvements.

Mr C was going to work to age 70 so was looking for a lender that could take the term over a longer period to help with the repayments.

• We do not credit score, but carry out a credit search instead. This allows our underwriters to review cases on an individual basis. We understand that on occasions there can be credit issues, however our standard credit allows for minor blips. This means our underwriters take a flexible and holistic view.
• We will allow capital raising on our remortgage products up to 80% LTV (75% for debt consolidation cases).
• We can consider using earned income to age 75 based on the plausibility of the job role and clients intention to work to this age. Over this age, cases will be considered on an individual basis.

If you have customers who do not meet lenders credit scores and have minor credit blips then Buckinghamshire Building Society may be able to help you with like for like remortgages or remortgage with capital raising (max 80% LTV).

Visit our website here for our prime mortgage details and credit criteria matrix.

To find out more about full mortgage product suite, click here.

*Source – Mortgage Solutions Article 27/10/2021

https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2021/10/27/nearly-half-of-homeowners-have-never-remortgaged-barclays/

The team at LendInvest are looking ahead to the future of the property market. To support landlords and developers making smart investments in energy efficient properties, our latest Buy-to-Let launch has included a new, cheaper product range – called EPiC – to incentivise investing in greener properties. Find out more about the new catalogue here.

As we take more steps towards returning to a pre-pandemic economy, it raises many questions about the employment market. How many people have chosen to set out on their own, gone freelance, or set up their own business?

The self-employed have been particularly hard-hit by the events of the last 18 months, meaning they could find it more difficult to get the finance they require. In fact, between 30 November and 31 December 2020, HMRC received 1.9 million claims for the government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). That’s out of a possible 3.4 million eligible applications, with claims totalling £5.4 billion – the average being £2,800 per individual².

They therefore need a lender that understands the complexities involved with non-standard income.

That’s where Kent Reliance for Intermediaries could help. We believe criteria is only the starting point of a conversation, so even if a case seems too challenging or complex, our flexible underwriting and individual case assessments could provide the support you and your clients need.

We may even consider 2019/20 pre-covid self-employed trading accounts if current statements are in line with past earnings.

If you have any questions about our buy to let and residential criteria, or want to know how else we could support you and your clients, please speak to your business development manager.

Alternatively, you can call our brokers liaison team on 01634 888276, or contact them via Live Chat.

¹ https://www.mortgageintroducer.com/halifax-house-prices-at-record-high-as-momentum-increases-in-march/

² https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/self-employment-income-support-scheme-statistics-january-2021/self-employment-income-support-scheme-statistics-january-2021#seiss-third-grant-claims-and-eligibility

The various lockdowns of the past 18 months prompted many tenants living in city centres to reassess their living situations; resulting in large numbers of tenants moving out of city centres in the search of more space or back to their family homes on a temporary basis.

Now as society and offices open back up, tenants are ‘boomeranging’ back to city centres, driving strong rental growth, fuelled by increased tenant demand.

If you have clients looking to take advantage of the increasing opportunities within the buy-to-let sector either as a first-time landlord or experienced landlords considering expanding their portfolios, Vantage Finance can help.

Why work with us?

• Direct access to decision-makers
• Speed of service
• Up to 80% LTV
• All property types considered – residential, semi-commercial and commercial
• First-time buyers and First-time landlords
• NO maximum number of properties in the background
• We can lend to ex-pats and foreign nationals
• More capacity on stress testing 100% of the pay rate
• We can lend to all corporate structures Ltd Co, Off-Shore entities
• Holiday lets
• Houses of multiple occupancy
• Student lets
• No minimum incomes required
• Portfolio landlords welcome with capacity outside Portfolio stress testing
• Heavy adverse credit profiles considered

For any questions, enquiries, or cases you’d like to talk through, please contact the Vantage Finance Team on 01753 883195 or enquiries@vantagefinance.co.uk.

Our RSMs have attended several big events over the past few months, and it’s made an enjoyable change to all the webinars, calls and virtual meetings that have become the norm. Getting out to meet brokers face to face is one of our favorite things to do, so get in touch if you’d like to book an appointment.

If you have a specific case query, quick question, or just need an update contact us and one of our RSMs or telephone BDMs will get back to you in a flash.

If you’re ready to submit a case our Top tips video is a good place to start. We’ve got dozens of useful documents and videos & guides on our website to make it as easy as possible.

Also, check out our new Friday Fact, for a little something you might not know about Zephyr Homeloans.

LifeQuote makes it easier and simpler for you to protect your clients with the solutions they really need.

Our skilled processing teams are on hand to act as your back office team. We will ask the questions some find awkward during recorded tele-interviews, handle the completion of the client application data and take the responsibility of keying the information into the insurer site, meaning a reduction in risk of disclosure to you and your business.

Your appointed case management team with a key contact will manage each one of your cases through to completion. Liaising with insurers and fulfilling any additional requirements such as GP chases, adviser and client communications and missing information, so you can take your time back and concentrate on the advice.

Find out more about LifeQuote

Application Routes
Arrange for one of our skilled tele-interviewers to complete the medical questionnaire at a time that best suits your client. Online and email applications also available should they be preferable.
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Case Management
Each adviser is assigned a case management team that are responsible for submitting applications to your chosen insurer, progressing any requirements until the policy is placed on risk.
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Webinar Demos
Need a Platform walkthrough or just need a refresher? Book onto one of our weekly webinars with our Sales Support team and find out more about our easy to use tools and systems.
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Case Tracking System
Case updates will be emailed to you and added into LifeQuote’s case tracking system, accessible 24/7.
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Decision in Principle
A tool that helps advisers create a recommendation for their clients based on their specific information and helps manage expectations should any ratings or exclusions be applied.
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Document Library
A library filled with key facts documents, guides, applications and multiple forms applicable for each insurer we work with and LifeQuote downloadables.
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In his sixth blog in the series looking at the myths and misconceptions of protection, Robert Betts, Market Development Manager at Legal & General, discusses the fifth most common reason why clients don’t have income protection – that they have another option to fall back on. Here, Robert shares the common notion that family and friends are viewed as a stable financial safety net, unpicks how this can quickly fail, and shares how you can demonstrate the importance of protection with a more robust Plan B strategy.

Read Now

Holiday Let Mortgages from Hodge – how they can work for your clients.

Our dedicated Intermediary site is designed with you in mind, we know it can help if we’re able to bring to life where our mortgages fit and for who. With this in mind, did you know we offer a selection of case studies you can take a look at?

Click on the links below for more on our Holiday Let interest only and repayment mortgages and find out how we helped David & Sarah to purchase their dream holiday property in one of our top lending locations, Cornwall.

We’ll also show you how Jack and Heather were able to borrow over £400,000 on a repayment basis, with a joint income of £132,000 and a large mortgage on their main residence – allowing them to buy a holiday let in a very popular staycation destination.

David & Sarah – interest only Holiday Let Mortgage

Jack & Heather – repayment Holiday Let Mortgage

Want to talk to someone about your client and their specific needs? No problem, we’ll give you a team of BDMs who’ll be happy to help, you can find yours here.

What makes us different?

For Holiday Let Mortgages, at Hodge we…

• Don’t require a minimum income
• Allow 90 days personal occupancy
• Accept first time landlords and Air B&B with up to 3 properties considered
• Lend from aged 21 to age 95
• Enhanced rental calculation for 5 year fixed
• Non-owner occupiers considered

Following a review of our Home Finance offering, we are pleased to announce that we are reinstating our Multi-Unit Freehold Block (MUFB) products into the International Buy-to-Let product range with immediate effect.

Eight new MUFB products with FTVs up to 75% are now available for International residents, with finance amounts available from £100k to £5m. For finance above £500k, a 0.20% reduction in rental rates will apply.

These products complement our existing range available to UK residents, UK Expats, International residents and UK registered corporate entities looking to purchase or refinance property in England and Wales. Our full range of products can be found here and our Buy-to-Let criteria for UK Expats and International residents can be found here.

If you have any queries or require further information our team remains available via phone and email, details of which can be found here.

Don’t forget we also offer:

• Fast decision in principle and end-to-end online application system
• Every application individually assessed
• Experienced BDMs available by telephone / conference call

Find out more:

• Gatehouse Bank products and finance criteria
• Register here for our online application system
• Call us on 08000 356 544
• Shariah Residential Property Finance Explained

If your customer is newly self-employed or has a long established business, we could help with our wide range of residential mortgage solutions.

• We’ll consider applications with only 1 year’s accounts or tax calculation
• Changes in trading style during the last 12 months accepted
• Less-than-perfect credit considered – defaults, CCJs and arrears (secured and unsecured)
• Car allowance and 100% of pension contributions accepted as part of total annual income
• Limited companies, sole traders and partnerships accepted

Calculator

Criteria

Products

6 reasons to use Foundation for contractors

• No minimum income requirement for any type of Contractor, regardless of industry
• For Day Rate Contractors, income calculated at day rate x 5 x 46
• For the Construction Industry (CIS) specifically, contractors can be viewed as PAYE, and average gross pay from the last 3 months payslips annualised as evidence of basic salary or Self-employed using 2 years SA302’s
• So only 3 months employment history in their current CIS role required for CIS movers/re-mortgagers
• 6 months employment track record only required for CIS First Time Buyers
• Other contractors (non-CIS) day 1 accepted with industry experience if 3 months left on their current contract, or proof of renewal at time of offer

Foundation accept a wide range of additional income sources that many lenders won’t consider

Speak to Foundation for your contractors, today.