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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Mortgage roundup – revamped products and the highest LTV available

Roma Finance completed a record month in May, reporting a 50% increase in pipeline business on top of the 100% increase achieved in 2020.

This is in addition to 25% of all new businesses coming from existing borrowers and customer referrals.

The lender experienced multiple record-breaking periods of enquiries and completions within the last year, and its review of all active loans and applications in underwriting shows this to continue.

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Roma Finance believes the surge in enquiries and cases demonstrates the growing requirement for specialist finance and the appetite of landlords and property investors to continue their own growth aspirations.

The lender says it is focused on delivering an ‘extraordinary experience’ to its broker partners and customers, with unrestricted access to decision-makers, competitive criteria and a personalised service throughout.

Scott Marshall, managing director of Roma Finance, comments: “I am delighted by these results showing the overall business growth and just how many people come back to us and recommend us to others.”

“We are privileged to go on the property journey with our broker partners and customers, enabling them to achieve their goals. The more that return, the more we are certain that our unique proposition works.”

He adds: “We have a number of exciting developments to follow this year and I am extremely excited to see what the future holds.”

Vida increases maximum loan to £1 million

Mortgage lending specialist Vida Homeloans has made changes to its limited-edition buy-to-let (BTL) products, including the extension of its maximum loan from £750,000 to £1,000,000.

Vida says the changes to its four products will provide greater product choice and flexibility to homebuyers requiring larger loans.

According to Vida, the need for specialist lending doesn’t finish at lower loan sizes, and borrowers purchasing more expensive homes, and or requiring larger loans, can also have specialist needs which are underserved by the high street.

For this reason, it has launched both buy-to-let and residential products aimed at this particular sector.

The lending specialist has also reduced rates across its standard buy-to-let portfolio range. The 75% loan-to-value (LTV) rates start at 2.94% when fixed over two years, and 3.29% over the five-year fixed rate products. The 70% LTV product is 3.19% for a five-year fixed rate.

With the Help to Buy initiative having an important place in assisting new buyers, Vida has now made help to buy products available to all intermediaries.

It is also launching two new products on its Vida 1 residential range up to 70% LTV, with rates of 2.99% on a two-year fixed deal and 3.29 fixed for five years. Loans start at £750,000 with the maximum loan, £1,500,000.

Additionally, Vida’s latest offerings for the intermediary market follow recent price cuts of up to 0.95% to the lender’s residential purchase mortgage products across its Vida 1, 2 and 3 core residential ranges.

Richard Tugwell, director of mortgage distribution at Vida, comments: “We understand that many landlords have experienced issues with fluctuating income during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“These latest product changes are aimed at supporting them in achieving their portfolio growth and the latest step in our commitment to evolving our offering to open up new opportunities for intermediaries and reinforce our commitment to helping borrowers who are underserved and undervalued by high-street lenders.”

more2life to offer ‘highest LTV available’ in equity release market

Equity release lender more2life has launched two new products, Maximum Choice Super 1 & 2, which it says offer the highest LTV options available in the market.

The new plans, which provide LTVs of up to 59.28% and are open to borrowers between the ages of 55 and 95, sit within more2life’s wider ‘Maximum’ product suite which now includes eight plan options.

The new plans offer fixed early repayment charges (ERCs) and rates starting from 4.78% management expense ratio (MER) on loans between £10,000 and £750,000, against properties valued from £100,000 to £1,000,000.

Clients also benefit from downsizing protection, the ability to make up to 12% partial penalty free capital repayments from day one and ERC exemption on death or admission into long-term care in joint cases.

The news follows the launch of more2life’s Prime Max Lump Sum product in April, which offers LTVs up to 58%. The lender says it is committed to extending its range of flexible lending solutions to suit borrowers in later life and looks forward to introducing additional plans in the coming months.

Stuart Wilson, corporate marketing director at more2life, comments: “The product announcement reinforces our commitment to delivering a competitive and market-leading proposition to our adviser partners and their clients.”

“By offering the highest LTV available in the lifetime mortgage market, we are confident that advisers serving older borrowers will be better equipped to support this demographic with their later life lending needs.”

He concludes: “Over the coming months, enhancing our proposition with this end goal in mind will continue to be a focus for us and we look forward to adding new plans to our extensive product range soon.”

Landbay launches fresh products and lowers rates

Landbay, one of the UK’s leading buy-to-let lenders, has launched two brand new products to its catalogue for landlords with three properties or less.

The first is a two-year fixed rate at 2.85% up to 65% LTV, available on loans of up to £1.5 million. The second is a five-year fixed rate at 3.25% up to 65% LTV, also available on loans up to £1.5 million in value.

In addition, Landbay is lowering existing rates on some of its products. The 75% LTV (non-portfolio) two and five-year fixed rates will be:

  • Two-year fixed rate - 2.95% up to 75% LTV, down from 3.14% - 1.75% fee and a free valuation

  • Five-year fixed rate - 3.35% up to 75% LTV, down from 3.39% - 1.75% fee and a free valuation

  • Two-year fixed rate - 2.95% up to 75% LTV, down from 3.14% - 1.5% fee

  • Five-year fixed rate - 3.35% up to 75% LTB, down from 3.39% - 1.5% fee

These products are available on standard properties only and can be taken out by both limited companies and individuals.

Paul Brett, managing director of intermediaries at Landbay, says: “The rental market is thriving, and we maintained our position at the forefront of this flourishing sector during the pandemic. We were one of the few lenders who continued to lend throughout lockdown, during which we successfully retained our rapid turnaround times.”

“These rates continue to consolidate Landbay’s leading position as a specialist buy-to-let lender, and I am sure there are many brokers out there who will be taking a sigh of relief at being able to offer their clients larger loans that offer added flexibility.”

Zephyr Homeloans launches exclusive 80% LTV mortgage

Specialist buy-to-let lender Zephyr Homeloans has made 80% LTV mortgages available exclusively through its packager channel.

Rates for the product start at 3.89% for a two-year, fixed-rate mortgage and 4.15% for a five-year, fixed-rate mortgage for purchases and re-mortgage on standard properties. The maximum loan amount is up to £750,000.

Paul Fryers, managing director at Zephyr Homeloans, comments: “Since Zephyr entered the market two years ago, we have established ourselves as a lender that is finely attuned to the needs of specialist and portfolio BTL landlords.

“Our 80% LTV mortgages are competitively priced and available to both individuals and limited companies – and will further enable intermediaries to serve the needs of buy-to‑let borrowers.”

He adds: “Given the competitive nature of the property market, processing cases quickly has never been more important, and last month we answered 90% of calls within 30 seconds – and actioned all DIP referrals within 24 hours.”

A list of packagers that can access Zephyr’s exclusive products is available online. More details on the lending criteria and products are available here.

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