Inform 24th June 2022

We’re Pepper Money, your Buy to Let mortgage lender.

At the beginning of this year, we set off on a mission to help homeowners reduce the environmental impact their property has on our planet (and save them some money in the process), it’s all part of our long-term commitment to operating an environmentally and socially positive business.

The first step we took to achieve this was offering our residential customers a free Energy Performance Certificate. This has helped them understand their property’s current energy efficiency and performance and recommendations to improve it.

We’re pleased to be extending this offer to you as a private landlord customer of Pepper Money.

With the proposed minimum EPC rating of C for rental properties looking to be implemented in 2025 by the government, understanding energy efficiency is becoming business critical.

Get a FREE energy performance survey, certificate, and action plan on us.

We believe it’s super important to understand your EPC rating, which is why we’ll pay for you to have an energy performance survey. The survey is completed by our approved partner, “Vibrant Energy Matters”, for any of your private Buy to Let properties mortgaged with us.

How to book your free survey

Email our team at epc@pepper.money to redeem your free EPC. Please ensure you submit your request before 31st August 2022 to avoid disappointment! Our team will then share a form for you to complete to organise a survey at your rental properties.

Please note that you will need to coordinate survey booking with tenants, and neither Pepper Money nor Vibrant Energy Matters are responsible for liaising with your tenants.

We’ve listened to your feedback and we’re making things a lot easier for you to transfer your clients to a new Kensington product with the great news that we’re about to launch our new Broker Product Transfer Portal!

A new process to transfer your client’s product
Our new Product Transfer Portal will offer you an end-to-end seamless process so that you can digitally transfer your clients over to a new Kensington product.

A 0.30% gross procuration fee for every client you transfer
When you transfer your client to a new fixed term deal with Kensington, we’ll pay you a procuration fee in the usual way, two weeks after your client rolls on to their new existing fixed rate.

Under proposed regulation changes announced by the government, all new tenancies will be required to have an EPC rating of ‘C’ or above from 2025 with existing tenancies being subject to the same regulations from 2028. Currently new and existing tenancies are required to have an EPC rating of ‘E’; however, this is being revised as part of the government’s strategy to decarbonize and reduce emissions.

It has been estimated that there are around 3.2 million privately rented properties in England and Wales that have an EPC rating of ‘D’ or lower. Bringing this amount of properties up to the required standards before the 2025 and 2028 deadlines presents a host of challenges for landlords, the most pressing being ‘how will landlords finance the cost of the improvements?’

There is a huge opportunity for brokers to help guide their BTL clients through this and discuss the available financial options.

BTL Mortgage

A new BTL mortgage itself may be a good option for your client, if they are coming to the end of the mortgage term. A remortgage can be a useful way for the landlord to access the equity that has built up in their property and spread the costs out over a longer period. However, the suitability of this product will depend on several factors including the term of the mortgage and the affordability of the repayments.

How can West One help?

At West One, we lend on a wide variety of property types to a broad range of borrowers, whether borrowing in individual names or through a limited company. Our expert team are committed to delivering cases with speed and flexibility.

For more information on financing upgrades to meet EPC requirements get in touch with the West One team now.

T: 0333 123 4556
E: hello@westoneloans.co.uk
W: https://bit.ly/3KYANB5

Every quarter, we work with BVA BDRC to survey around 700 landlords about their  portfolios. For the first quarter of 2022, here’s what they told us. In an ever-evolving BTL marketplace, it’s important for landlords and intermediaries to keep track of market trends and shifting economic influences which are impacting tenant needs and the performance of their portfolios.

Here’s what a ‘typical’ portfolio looks like at the moment.

Click here to read the full story.

From Tuesday 21st June, TSB no longer refer all cases for applicants on a visa to underwriting.

Instead, they’ll only accept house purchase and remortgage applications for those who meet the following criteria:

• They must have lived within the UK for a minimum of 12 months
• Minimum of 18 months remaining on their visa
• Maximum LTV of 75% (this limit includes any fees added to the loan and is based on market value for all application types (e.g., Shared Equity))
• Self-funded minimum deposit of 25% (this excludes shared equity, shared ownership and Help to Buy)
• The mortgage is on a repayment basis

The applicant must hold one of the following acceptable VISAs:

• Skilled Worker visa
• Family visa (Partner/spouse/family member) *
• Health and Care Worker visa
• UK Ancestry visa
• British National (Overseas) visa

*Single applicant applications on partner/spouse visa may be considered on a case-by-case basis by Underwriting.

This change will provide brokers with more clarity on acceptable applicants, and help to reduce underwriting timescales, resulting in quicker offer times for those applicants who can be accepted for a mortgage with TSB.

All information is available on the foreign nationals section of TSB’s website.

If you have any questions, please contact your National Account Manager.

Our First Start mortgages give a helping hand by combining the borrowing power of first time buyers and movers with the income of a sponsor. Together they can borrow more responsibly. It’s also available to buyers who’ve been out of the property market for a while, who need to buy a property on their own, for example if their personal circumstances have changed.

How can we help your clients?

• First Start is our Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgage for residential purchases, on a repayment basis, up to £500,000
• Ideal way for a sponsor to help their children or close relative buy their own home
• It gives you the power to reach and help more buyers onto the property ladder

Criteria at a glance:

• Borrow up to £500,000
• The sponsor is a close relative, normally a parent or step parent of the applicant, who is added as a co-borrower but is not required to go on the title deeds. (This removes the enhanced 3% Stamp Duty Land Tax payable on second properties – independent legal advice is required)
• The sponsor maximum age 60 at application and maximum age 80 at end of term and must be a residential home owner
• We use income from the highest earning applicant and the sponsor
• Applicant minimum income £20,000 and sponsor £30,000
• Together, they can borrow up to 95% of the value of the property
• The deposit can be gifted.

View our First Start lending criteria for more detail.

Examples of how it can work:

Borrowing power for a single parent
An applicant earning £25,000 could potentially borrow £112,250 on their own. But with a sponsor with a £50,000 income they could triple their borrowing power up to £336,750.

This boosts the overall amount that can be borrowed by £224,500.

Borrowing power for joint applicants
If applicant 1 was earning £32,000 and applicant 2 earning £28,000, as joint applicants they could potentially borrow £269, 400. But with a sponsor with a £80,000 income they could have the borrowing power up to £500,000.

This boosts the overall amount that can be borrowed by £230,600.

To find how much your first time buyers could borrow use our First Start affordability calculator or for more information, speak to your BDM today.

Our claims have again been impacted by the pandemic; 1 in 7 life claims were Covid-19 related. Additionally, Critical Illness claims for cancer and overall Terminal Illness claims have increased.

Read our claims magazine today to find out more about the top reasons for claims and how each product varies by age group.

Read their claim magazine.

At least one applicant must own a residential property in the UK but they don’t need to be living in it.

At least one applicant must have a minimum income of £25,000. Maximum loan size of £750,000 and maximum 75% LTV (70% new build flats)

Minimum property value: £75,000. Property must have an EPC rating of ‘E’ or above (England and Wales).

Find out more…

As the Buy-to-Let market has continued to change over the past month – with lenders raising rates left and right – the core of our approach has stayed the same: the right products, delivered by experts and powered by technology.

These things are present in every Buy-to-Let deal, and what makes getting your clients the right funding, simpler:

• Regional BDMs and calls answered in 6 seconds
• Direct access to underwriters and case managers delivering all key SLAs in 1 day
• Secure, diverse funding lines giving us the capacity to support every Buy-to-Let deal
• Loans up to £3 million
• 5-, 7- and 10-year products for longer-term stability
• Accommodating complex company structures, making LTD Co deals simpler with technology
• Less paperwork by incorporating Open Banking and other technology into the process

Explore our rates, get instant quotes and submit your deals in one place.

See BTLproducts

HTB like to make superheroes out of their brokers. That’s why their Bridge EPC Refurb rewards clients for making improvements that enhance a property EPC rating.

Combining the benefits of a light refurb bridge, wrapped in a term loan – Bridge EPC Refurb gives the borrower added benefits if the property achieves and EPC ‘C’ or above after six months.

• Lend on large and small portfolios, holiday lets, large HMO’s and MUFBs, semi-commercial, development exits, sitting tenants, and new-build flats
• Will discount the standard rate by 0.20% on achieving an EPC ‘C’ rating or above
• Your client will have 6 months to deliver the improvements
• HTB will pay for the new EPC certificate

Download HTB’s latest product guide

Take a closer look at Hampshire Trust Bank’s product range, which is available through Impact Packaging.

 Have a case you would like to discuss? Call the impact packaging team now on 01403 272625

The pandemic resulted in job volatility for a quarter (24%) of UK workers, of which two fifths (39%) saw their income decrease, according to new research from the Mortgage Lender which sheds light on the far-reaching impact of Covid-19 on people’s job and financial security.

Of those who experienced a job change, most were furloughed, followed by losing their job altogether.

The full article covers:

• Applicant types who were hardest hit
• Furlough impacts
• Effects on plans for home buying

You can read the article now.

We’ve partnered up with Money Marketing to bring you a new Consumer Duty and protection podcast series.

In episode one, Feature’s Writer Amanda Newman Smith is joined by Shelley Read and Gregor Sked, Intermediary Development & Technical Managers from Royal London, to discuss what the new Duty is expected to look like, and how the changes could affect business practices for protection advisers.

They’ll examine the requirement of advisers to ‘measure and evidence’ their recommendations to help determine whether these are likely to deliver good outcomes for clients in the future. And they’ll discuss how the shift of focus from ‘treating customers fairly’ to ‘striving to achieve good outcomes’ could help more advisers to build better financial resilience into their clients’ lives.

Tools to support your protection conversations

We have resources available to help you get ready for the Consumer Duty regulations and handy tools to support successful protection conversations. Learn more.