Government plans to set up an infrastructure bank to support investment

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced plans for a new infrastructure bank to provide billions of pounds of new funding for capital projects.

The infrastructure bank will support private infrastructure projects, as part of the government’s National Infrastructure Strategy.

It will be headquartered in the north of England and will work with the private sector to finance new investment projects across the UK.

Sunak said: “We’re publishing a comprehensive new national infrastructure strategy.

“To help us finance these plans, I can also announce we will establish a new UK infrastructure bank.”

 

Bluestone Mortgages resumes 85% LTV lending

Bluestone Mortgages has announced that it is now offering residential and buy-to-let mortgae products at up to 85% loan-to-value (LTV).

This brings the lender’s its maximum LTV back to pre-Covid levels.

Qualifying loans on all credit tiers will continue to be processed using Automated Valuation Models, while the maximum loan size for residential loans will increase to £1m.

Reece Beddall, head of sales & marketing at Bluestone Mortgages, commented: “Over recent weeks, we have been focusing on ensuring we can return to our pre-Covid product range as quickly and efficiently as possible, and it is a delight to be able to announce this to the market today.

“Ensuring underserved borrowers can continue to access the lending they need remains a priority for Bluestone and delivering an innovative and flexible proposition to these customer segments will continue to be crucial in helping us achieve this goal.

“We are confident that, following today’s announcement, we will be in an even stronger position to support borrowers over the coming months and as the crisis continues.”

 

Just Mortgages receives 750 applicants for Broker Academy

Just Mortgages has received over 750 applicants for its broker Academy in January.

The huge number of applications to join the Broker Academy appears to be a result of the incredibly busy mortgage market combined with an increase in those looking to change careers, as thousands of buyers look to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

From those who have submitted CVs, selected candidates will be invited to send in a 60 second video explaining why they want to become a mortgage and protection adviser. Then a select group will be invited to a virtual assessment day where a number of activities and to assess their abilities in a team and individual environment.

The successful candidates will start five weeks of intensive training in January. During that time, they will go from raw recruits with no previous experience in the industry to fully-fledged Just Mortgages brokers.

John Phillips, group operations director from Just Mortgages said, “The Broker Academy has never been more popular. With the rise in unemployment, we are seeing vast amounts of people looking to train as a broker from all walks of life. At Just Mortgages we are keen to invest in the future of the mortgage market and expand the pool of talent coming in. Therefore, those who come through our Academy will be supported with all the training and mentoring they need to succeed as a mortgage broker.

“It’s great to see such a variety of candidates looking to become mortgage brokers, the housing market has remained robust throughout the pandemic and the amount of people looking to join the industry reflects this.

“There is no set path to becoming a broker and we are equally as open to recruiting graduates as we are to those who have experience in other fields. The key for us is a desire to learn and fantastic people skills. Our brokers need to be personable, alongside giving sound financial advice and we have been really impressed by the quality of applicants this year.”

 

Principle welcomes EWS1 proposal

Principle Estate Management has welcomed the news that owners of flats in buildings without cladding may soon no longer need an EWS1 form to sell or re-mortgage their property, following a new agreement reached between the government and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Regulations introduced to improve fire safety following the Grenfell fire had inadvertently left flat owners trapped in near-unsellable homes.

After the Grenfell tragedy in June 2017, the rules implemented meant that mortgages for flats in buildings over 18m tall would only be approved if they had passed an External Wall Fire Review (EWS1) survey.

But the government and RICS have agreed that buildings without cladding do not need an EWS1 form, clearing the way for up to nearly 450,000 flat owners to sell, move or remortgage their homes.

However, mortgage lenders have so far not given their approval, although it is hoped that will soon change.

Brett Williams, managing director of Principle Estate Management, commented: “We welcome the government’s announcement as a good first step in clarifying a complex area that had led to a glut of survey requests and huge delays to mortgages and sales.

“Importantly, it should be noted that this will not change the process for flats with cladding that must still have EWS1 safety checks to make sure they are not dangerous.

“However, by making it clear that flats without cladding don’t need to go through this process, the new guidance could reduce delays and untie red tape from blameless flat owners.”

 

Landbay exceeds 5,500% growth in revenue

Landbay has achieved 5,520% growth in revenue from 2016 to 2020, lending over £0.6bn during that period.

Over the past three years, the buy-to-let lender has been building momentum with 2020 marking the third year in a row it has featured on the UK Fast 50. Reaching number 20 in 2018, number 28 in 2019 and now number 6 in 2020.

Last week the buy-to-let lender announced a major additional funding deal with an international asset manager worth £300m a year which will enable it to expand its lending further still. This deal is in addition to the bank funding deal that Landbay announced in July and the £1bn funding deal it announced in mid-2019.

Landbay is now one of the most diversely funded buy-to-let lenders in the UK, with funds from an investment bank sponsored securitisation programme, as well as from deposit taking banks.

Julian Cork, COO of Landbay, said: “The huge growth we’ve achieved is a testament to how hard our team has worked over the past four years and the excellent intermediaries we work with. We set out to become the leading customer services company designing better ways to buy-to-let and this recognition from Deloitte shows we are well on the way to achieving this.

“The key to our success is our scalable, technology enabled and service-focused lending platform. We designed process and systems that means we can do things faster and more efficiently and crucially, provide a better experience for intermediaries and their clients.

“While the growth of Landbay is incredibly important, we also want to help change the shape of the whole buy-to-let industry providing intermediaries with a vision of what lending could and should look like.”

 

MCI Club launches later life lending sourcing

MCI Mortgage Club has launched its own branded version of Air Sourcing.

Tailored to the club’s own panel, the platform provides a streamlined broker experience while leveraging the full capabilities of the award-winning sourcing platform.

The MCI branded version of Air Sourcing is free and exclusive to existing and new members of the mortgage club.

The launch continues to build upon MCI’s strategic push to provide a technology backed later life lending proposition and follows a number of additions to the club’s panel.  The move was driven by a combination of member demand and the club’s recent research, which highlighted that 43% of business principals anticipated that equity release and later life lending would grow in the next 12 months, and that over a third were actively looking to expand into the sector.

Melanie Spencer, head of the MCI mortgage club, commented: “Our collaboration with Air Sourcing reinforces our commitment to new and existing members.  Later life lending has established itself by providing genuine solutions to the over 55s and, as this area of the population continues to increase, it is only natural that advisers want to service and enable this group.

“As a club, through a competitive and expanding panel backed with best of breed solutions, such as Air Sourcing, we’re providing advisers with the very best tools to service this exciting sector.”

 

Swansea Building Society launches new digital service

Swansea Building Society has introduced a new digital service that allows customers to access their savings and mortgage accounts online.

Swansea Online allows the society’s customers to view their savings and mortgage account balances online, transfer between Society savings accounts and withdraw monies from their society savings accounts to a nominated bank account which must be in their name or joint names.

Customers can also view previous transactions on savings and mortgage accounts and directly contact the society’s advisors using a secure messaging facility.

The online platform has been set up with security and online safety as a priority. It will be accessible from any device including smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers.

Alun Williams, chief executive of Swansea Building Society, said: “We have been delighted by the way in which our customers have embraced Swansea Online and we look forward to encouraging even more members to use it in the future while adding to its functionality. The important thing for us is customer choice. We kept all our branches open during the pandemic, ensuring all our customers could access their savings and mortgages in a way that works for them.

“Our priority has always been to ensure our members are comfortable with the security of the platform but also still have access to the personal service we have always cherished and built our business around.”