Inform 17th December 2021

The office is closed on Monday 27th and 28th of December, and Monday 3rd of January, so commission runs on these dates will not take place. Below are the commission run dates that will be taking place and when the payments will reach your nominated bank account:

Commission Run                               –      Payment Date

• Friday 24th December                  –      Thursday 30th December
• Wednesday 29th December         –      Friday 31st December
• Thursday 30th December             –       Tuesday 4th January
• Friday 31st December                  –        Wednesday 5th January

Normal commission runs start Tuesday 4th January.

The final date for Express Claim Forms is 23rd December. Any forms received on the 24th we will endeavour to process.

The TMA Support Desk will as always be on hand to answer your queries during the festive period.

The age old question for brokers: DA or AR?

For as long as the profession of modern financial advice has existed, so has the question of whether to become a directly authorised (DA) broker or an appointed representative (AR).

Whichever route a broker chooses, they play a vital role in terms of guiding and advising clients on some of the biggest financial decisions of their lives, from buying a home to protecting themselves and their loved ones from challenging life events and difficult times

There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, it’s all about finding the path that best suits a broker and their business. So, what are the key aspects to consider?

Read the full blog here from Lisa Martin, Development Director, TMA and Vikki Jefferies, Proposition Director, PRIMIS.

Our enhanced affordability calculator has now launched on our website (courtesy of Santa’s elves), powered by technology from Legal & General.
The intuitive affordability calculator reviews the affordability of borrowers, but then cross-references this information against a selection of our lending criteria.
Don’t forget at Buckinghamshire that we:

• Are a flexible lender
• Assess affordability on a case by case basis
• Use a bespoke human underwriting process
• Don’t use clients’ income multiples
• Look for a positive outcome where possible

The new tool also provides Buckinghamshire Building Society with enhanced insights to understand the types of borrowers that advisers are seeking solutions for.

Find our brand new Affordability Calculator on our website.

For other further case enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact your nearest Key Account Manager today;

Claire Askham, Head of Mortgage Sales (covering North & Midlands)
T: 01494 418257 or E: claireaskham@bucksbs.co.uk

Julie Hanif, Key Account Manager (South & Wales)
T: 01494 418254 or E: juliehanif@bucksbs.co.uk

In the New Year you and your mortgage administrators will be able to use SFI Live Chat to talk to us about existing mortgage applications. Register your administrator now so they can take advantage of this new service.

Once registered, your administrator will also be able to:

• Set up and submit new agreements in principle.
• Complete and submit the full mortgage application.
• Track applications in progress via the Mortgage Application Tracking System.
• View online mortgage offers.

Here’s how you can register them:

• Go to Introducer Internet > Tools > Request a new admin user.
• Complete and sign the mortgage administrator registration form.
• Upload the form to us via Introducer Internet > Tools > Request a new admin user or you can fax the form to 0845 602 3293.

Once we’ve approved and registered the mortgage administrator on our system, we’ll email them with their own company/Introducer ID and password. We’ll call them to tell them their one-time passcode. Please allow 72 hours for the registration details to be emailed to your mortgage administrator.

Register here.

Reminder: changes to ERC refund window for non-simultaneous porting

To support existing customers moving home during the pandemic, where redemption of the existing mortgage and purchase of the new property was non-simultaneous, we temporarily extended the ERC refund window. With effect from 1 January 2022 the ERC refund window for non-simultaneous porting will change as follows:

• Standard purchase cases (non-new build) will revert back to three months (currently five months) in total.
• New build purchase cases will revert back to six months (currently 8 months) in total.

Please remember Flexible Offset porting has always been excluded from this policy and will continue to be excluded. If your client is porting a Flexible Offset mortgage, redemption and completion must be on the same day (simultaneous).
For more information visit our existing Santander mortgage customers moving home page.

Find out more.

Pipeline cases
All full mortgage applications (FMAs) already submitted on Introducer Internet by 9pm on Friday 31 December 2021, or where a material change is made to an FMA originally submitted before 9pm on Friday 31 December 2021, won’t be affected.

All FMAs submitted from 6am on Saturday 1 January 2022 will be subject to the new policy.

Like you, we want more people to get the financial protection they need. The end of 2021 is nearly here and we can help you wrap up your last protection cases.

We provide an Apply & Manage service that takes the hassle and time consuming tasks away from you, and instead gives you that much needed time back. With LifeQuote acting as your virtual back office team, you can save on average up to 3 hours of admin on your protection applications!

Get started today by calling the team on 01243 791199 or email salessupport@lifequote.co.uk

LifeQuote is ready to help, so you can relax

Quoting System
Quote for multiple products at once and compare multi benefit quotes against individual benefits.

Here you can also tailor the cover using add on benefits and access a range of tools to help you choose the best insurer for your client. WATCH 

Decision in Principle

At LifeQuote we know that good research often includes pre-sale research, as not all clients can be offered cover immediately.

By using our DiP tool for pre-sale research you can avoid any hidden surprises and prevent your applications being abandoned at the acceptance stage. READ MORE

Tele-interview
Book a time for your clients to complete their medical & lifestyle application over the phone with one of our trained tele-interviewers.

This will not only save you time but reduce the risk to you and your business with our disclosure guarantee. WATCH

Case Tracking System
Stay on top of all your cases using our case tracking tool, accessible 24/7.

The system is updated in real-time, links to important documents and has notifications of any policies that may be at risk. WATCH

In a significant enhancement of their buy-to-let proposition, Foundation Home Loans now offer up to 85% loan to value within buy to let lending within the F1 product range, for borrowers with a near-mainstream credit history.

Their buy to let range now includes 85% LTV two- and five-year fixed rate options. There are no product fees with either, and they are available to limited companies, individuals and portfolio landlords as standard.

As with all 5-year buy to let fixed rates with Foundation Home Loans, the rental income is calculated at the pay-rate, stress tested at 125% for limited companies and basic rate tax payers and 145% for other landlord types.

The usual valuation and application fees apply. Please note that there is a minimum property value of £125k in order to be eligible for their 85% LTV products.

Click here to find out more.

Why use Foundation for your next BTL case?

• Individual or limited company
• Limited companies with complex structures
• Up to 4 directors
• Newly incorporated limited companies acceptable
• ICR of 125% for limited company borrowers and basic rate taxpayers and 145% for others
• No minimum term of employment/self-employment and no minimum income
• Up to 85% LTV on core range
• Loans up to £2m on core range
• No limit to portfolio size, subject to maximum borrowing of £5m with Foundation
• Cater for specialist properties such as HMOs, short term lets and Multi Unit Blocks
• HMOs: up to 8 bedrooms and MUBs: up to 10 units
• Products for first time landlords
• Ex-pats considered for limited companies only
• Green Mortgages available for purchase and remortgage

NEW 90% FEE-ASSISTED AND NEW PROFESSIONALS 5-YEAR FIX

Foundation Home Loans has enhanced its owner-occupied proposition further with new 90% LTV ‘fee-assisted’ 2- and 5-year products for residential borrowers, as well as a pair of ‘Professionals’ 5-year fixed rates at 75% & 85% LTV.

NEW ‘Fee assisted’ 90% LTV in the F1 Owner-occupied range

• 90% LTV Fee assisted
• 2 year fixed or 5 year fixed options
• No application fee
• No product fee
• One free standard valuation

NEW 5-year fixed in the Professionals range

• 5 year fixed rates at 75% LTV or 85% LTV
• Fixed product fee
• One free standard valuation
• Capital and interest repayment only

Foundation’s recently launched Professionals mortgage range allows first-time buyers, home movers and remortgagers in eligible professions to borrow up to six times their income.

Find out more about Foundation’s specialist mortgages for owner occupiers, including the latest rates, here.

Reasons to use Foundation for your next specialist residential case:

Who for?

• Self-employed – directors, partners and contractors; retained profits considered
• Employed – no minimum term in current job (minimum 3 months employed)
• Clients with multiple and unusual income sources
• Holders of credit blips / lower credit scores
• First time buyers

How much?

• Maximum loan £2m
• Maximum term 40 years
• Maximum age 75 at end of term
• No minimum income
• Maximum number of applicants is 4 (immediate family)

What for?

• Capital and repayment mortgages up to 90% LTV
• Interest only, affordability calculated on an interest only basis up to 70% LTV
• Capital raising for buy to let purchase accepted
• A part and part mortgage up to 80% LTV

Loughborough BS has announced the introduction of a 95% LTV JBSP product to their range. This is for standard Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor (“JBSP”) with immediate effect.

This is a two year variable discounted rates start at 3.10% with a £499 arrangement fee currently available for residential mortgages in England and Wales.

This solution allows older family members to help out younger and younger family members to help out their elders. So, with up to four people on the mortgage application family members are able to assist one another to own their own home no matter what their age.

Because all parties will be responsible for the mortgage payments, there is no requirement for the proprietor to be able to take on the mortgage alone until all family members are ready and able to make the change.

For proprietors whose income is insufficient to cover the mortgage without the assistance of additional joint borrower(s) who live independently from the mortgaged property; affordability will be assessed taking into account income and commitments of all named parties.

The Loughborough’s criteria allows borrowers to  potentially take a mortgage over 40 years, rather than have a restricted mortgage term at the outset.

Ashley Pearson, BDM says ‘We launched this solution in November 2020 at 85% LTV and have been pleased with the response. Introducing a product up to 95% LTV for standard JBSP means we’ll be able to help more people realise their home ownership ambitions. It also sits nicely alongside our 100% Deposit Guarantee JBSP offering’.

We have increased our maximum loan size for 75% LTV buy to let products from £750,000 to £2m.

We will now also accept thatched roofs and ex‑local authority flats.

Buy to Let enhancements

• NEW – maximum loan size for 75% LTV products now £2m
• NEW – 5 year fixed stress rate 3.5% at 140% of the mortgage interest amount calculated for loans up to 75% LTV, 4.5% at 140% of the mortgage interest amount calculated for loans above 75% LTV – download our Rental Criteria Guide
• NEW – 80% LTV products with rates starting from 3.29%, maximum loan size of £500,000
• NEW – no longer require income proof for self funding buy to lets
• NEW – we have reduced our 5 year fixed rates with rates now starting from 2.29%
• NEW – available on New Build on houses and flats up to 80% LTV
• Use our Buy to Let calculator to find out how much your customer could borrow

Property enhancements

• NEW – Thatched Roof – Accepted – subject to surveyor / valuer’s comments. For thatched roof applications, you will need to select “roof type – other” and use the ’Send a message‘ function to add a note to explain it is thatched.
• NEW – Ex local authority flats – Accepted – subject to a maximum number of stories in the block of 6. Deck access is accepted subject to surveyor / valuer’s comments. Use the ‘Send a message’ function to add a note to explain it is an ex-local authority flat.

For full details on the points above, please refer to our Mortgage Lending Criteria Guide and Product Guides.

Download our updated Packaging Checklist.

Contact us

Our BDM Team are here and available to help with new case queries. Please get in touch with your BDM or call our Broker helpdesk on 020 3427 1019.
Find your nearest BDM here.

Since closing Post Office for Intermediaries (PO4I) for new business earlier this year we no longer have a PO4I website. But you can find information about submitting Post Office Existing Customer transactions and our product ranges here, it’ll take you to our Bank of Ireland for Intermediaries website.

Follow these steps when dealing with your Post Office for Intermediaries existing customers:

Further Advances & Porting and Moving

1. Before you begin, please read our Further Advance and Porting and Moving guides
2. Speak to your customer to find out their:

• Current income
• Agreed term of the current mortgage
• Current

3. Once you have this information, call your Telephone BDM (TBDM) to apply. You’ll need the details above as well as:

• Customer account number
• Full name(s) of applicant(s)
• Date(s) of birth.

We can only provide an illustration once we have all of the above information.

Product Transfers

Visit your sourcing system to get a Product Transfer illustration. Then, once you and your customer are ready to proceed, log in to our PO4I online application system to progress:

Before applying for a Product Transfer, you must have the following information:

• 10 digit mortgage account number (found on your customer’s annual mortgage statement. Not the same as the case ID)
• Postcode of mortgaged property
• First name, surname and date of birth
• Number of people named on the mortgage
• Last contractual monthly payment (must be correct to the penny).

Remember – you can book a product transfer up to four months early and can also reduce the term at the same time. Log in to your Post Office for Intermediaries online portal here.

Selecting a buy-to-let lender for a portfolio landlord can be a challenge for advisers, as they will need a lender that can offer a suitable interest cover ratio to maximise the amount of potential borrowing without heavy underwriting on the background portfolio.

At West One, our individual approach to underwriting means that we review each case on its own merits, ensuring we support clients to secure the purchase or remortgage that they require in a smooth and timely fashion.

This case study highlights how our flexible approach allowed us to act with speed to finance a buy-to-let purchase of a 2-unit multi-unit freehold block for a portfolio landlord in just 17 working days!

Loan Value: £271,830
LTV: 66.3%
Property Value: £410,000
Loan Term: 25 years

Get your buy-to-let cases moving today. For a personalised, speedy approach to lending, look no further. Get in touch to find out more about our products, contact us on 0333 123 4556 or email btlbrokersupport@westoneloans.co.uk.

The Client: Our client was a professional property landlord, looking to purchase a 2-unit multi-unit freehold block under a limited company.

The Situation: The client had an existing portfolio of 30 properties, as a result they were unable to access a solution with high street lenders and unfortunately had exhausted their options with some of the other specialist lenders in our peer group. The client had some historic adverse credit, which would need to be accommodated in the underwriting process.

Our Solution: As we do not stress test the background portfolio, we were able to offer terms immediately in addition to taking a pragmatic view on the client’s historic adverse credit.

Benefit: Our approach to background portfolios is made simple because we do not formerly stress test background portfolios, we check to ensure it is self-financing, we do not require additional verification like E-Tech or EDM, and we can consider portfolio exposure limit up to £3 million or £5million on referral.

Result: Our fast and flexible approach meant that we were able to issue funds to the client in just 17 working days. This enabled our client to complete on the purchase of 2-unit multi-unit freehold.

Christmas is a time for giving, and we’re thrilled to let you know that in partnership with Crisis, we will be helping to end homelessness in the UK by donating £29.06 for every application we receive in December.*

The gift of £29.06 can help provide a safe place to stay, hot meals and a Christmas dinner, companionship from volunteer befrienders and year-round support including training and education. It will give someone experiencing homelessness a place at one of the Crisis Christmas centres, helping them take their first steps out of homelessness and towards rebuilding their life.

No one should be homeless and alone this Christmas.

If you would like to donate directly to Crisis, please click here.

*The donation will be made by Vida to Crisis for new applications received between the 1st December to 31st December 2021

Click on the video here for a Christmas message from Vida and some festive cheer!

Complex case solutions

Is a complex case leaving your client cold this winter?

• Do they need help with a short term borrowing need?
• Do they need to secure lending on the basis of atypical income?
• Do they need to borrow more than standard income multiples?
• Are they trying to buy a more unusual property?

Whether it’s one complexity or several that is leaving them feeling the frost, TFIs red hot solutions will warm them up –

INCOME COMPLEXITY
• For evidenced income over £200k we can lend up to six times income
• We can monetise financial assets for income to meet affordability
• We can accept up to 75% of bonus income for City Workers

PROPERTY COMPLEXITY
We can lend on:
• Residential properties with annexes/holiday let
• Country retreats
• Second homes
• Townhouses with separate basement flats
• Conversions of two properties into one

TIMING COMPLEXITY
• Short term ERC free mortgages available
• Interest only options available up to 70% LTV
• 1 to 5 year terms

AGE COMPLEXITY
From first time buyers to octogenarians, we can find a solution

With effect from immediately, new and existing Buy to Let Landlords will be able to apply for additional borrowing for any legal purpose other than:

• • Gambling
  • Any form of business purpose (i.e. start up for a new business)
  • Any form of Unsecured Debt Consolidation

These changes follow on from our launch of two new simplified indication calculators earlier this year, which could benefit customers looking to remortgage like-for-like with NatWest. Alongside the new calculators, we introduced a lower stress rate of 4.5% for 5 year products and like-for-like remortgages.

For small landlords and like-for-like remortgage cases, no proof of income is required on submission and the application will proceed through a reduced underwriting process – This means a quicker journey for the you and your customers.

We also removed our minimum income threshold and for small landlords and like-for-like remortgage cases, no proof of income is required in submission and the application will proceed through a reduced underwriting process – This means a quicker journey for you and your customers.

Give our calculators a try, or if you have any questions on our Buy to Let policy, please consult our Buy to Let hub.

The Christmas break is almost upon us and people are busily completing those final deals before the festive holiday.

Do you have a complex deal on your desk which you really need to complete? Crystal Specialist Finance recently helped a client find much needed auction finance in just 24 hours with their multi-award winning bridging products.

• Winner of ‘Best Broker for Bridging’ 2021
• Beat the quote guarantee on all non-regulated bridging deals
• Open door to the UK’s best specialist lenders
• Can work across most property types

The challenge – a deal on the brink of collapse

A father and son team had worked hard to grow their portfolio over the years, and had recently won a new property at auction for £110,000.

They had jumped through all the hoops and were inches away from the finish line when all of a sudden they hit an obstacle – their lender had pulled out of the deal.

With their completion deadline looming and with limited options available to them, the clients were introduced to Crystal via a broker who had worked with us to solve similar cases.

The solution – experts that can work with the narrowest of deadlines

As the father and son team had paid at auction, the deadline was looming and with that the risk of losing their fees, deposit and their new investment property.

Turning to Crystal, they needed a specialist finance partner who was experienced and could work within the narrow completion window – in this case, just 24 hours!

With time being very much of the essence, the team got to work to get the underwriting boxed off, property valued and legals instructed. The lender’s solicitors were able to indemnify against most of the searches and a full set of legal replies had landed by lunch time the next day with funds being released soon thereafter – a feat unheard of with similar purchases.

Due to the efficiency of Crystal’s processes and trusted relationships with specialist lenders all the documents were complete by Friday and the client could proceed with their auction and avoided losing money.

Do you have a complex deal with a deadline fast approaching? Contact Crystal Specialist Finance to see how we can help on 01827 301 070 or submit a quick enquiry.