We’re putting the fizz back into Lemonade !

Have you got clients struggling with affordability?

I’m Lizzie, the Intermediary Sales Team Leader here at Hinckley & Rugby for Intermediaries. I wanted to get in touch about any cases that we may be able to give you a quick answer on.

As a manual lender we have a Mortgage Referrals Committee (MRC) formed of our key decision makers such as our Chief Executive Officer and Head of Lending. They meet everyday to carefully review complex mortgage enquiries and often provide an answer on the day. Each month we open this up for brokers to join and present their cases directly with our senior decision makers.

Our next live MRC drop-in clinic is Wednesday 7 August, from 3pm to 4:30pm. It’s hosted online and you can drop in anytime during the session to raise a case, ask questions, or just follow along to gain an understanding of our process.

If you’d like to join the session, you can save your place here.

If you can’t attend but have a case in mind, we can raise it for you. Just give us a call or open a live chat on our website and let us know.

Feel free to reach out if you need anything and one of the team will be happy to help. On average, we pick up the phone within 4 seconds and answer live chat messages within 15 seconds.

Content Update – mortgage criteria and new build enhancements

We have a couple of Hodge mortgage product updates and comms to share with you this week…

1. We’ve made criteria enhancements across our 50+ and RIO products to support more borrowers over 50 with complex incomes

Details can be found in the attached press release and via our online blog – https://hodgebank.co.uk/intermediaries/articles/enhanced-into-retirement-criteria/

2. We’ve introduced new build enhancements across all Hodge mortgage products
   Attachedisan update containing all the details along with thoughts from Jon Matthews (head of property risk) and Emme Graham (business development director) on the changes

Kent Reliance for Intermediaries – Product Launch – 24th June

We’re expanding our buy to let limited edition range at with new products now up to 75% LTV, as well as reducing our current fixed rates by up to 0.35% across the entire range, which could offer your landlord customers savings on their next mortgage.

What’s on offer:

• New limited edition products up to 75% LTV with rates from 4.39%
• Reductions to the existing 70% LTV limited edition products
• Fixed rates reduced up to 0.35%, with 2-year starting from 5.14% and 5-year
• from 4.99%
• Tracker rates now at 5.84% (BBR + 0.59%)
• Products available up to 80% LTV
• MUFBs up to 20 units available

Explore the new range

Our team is here to help with a range of options to suit landlords’ needs. Speak to your business development manager, or contact our broker liaison team on 01634 888276 or using Live Chat and we’ll be happy to help.

For intermediaries only. These products can be withdrawn at any time.

Foundation Home Loans – EPC Saver and BTL & Solutions reprice: Launch morning of 25 July 2024 – Partners

As of the morning of 25^th July 2024, Foundation Home Loans will:

1. Refresh some of its BTL & Solutions products with rates being reduced

2. We are also launching an HMO Limited Edition on BTL and comes with a minimum loan size of £200k

3. And finally, launching the new EPC Saver product on BTL & Residential propositions. The EPC Saver Product offers the EPC Plus service and is free to customers who have completed a mortgage with Foundation on an EPC Saver product and is available to you for a period of 3 months from the date of completion of your mortgage and is not transferable. For more information visit: https://www.foundationforintermediaries.co.uk/green-epc-saver/?utm_source=criteria-guide&utm_medium=criteria-guide&utm_campaign=21021-vibrant-epc

Our Product Switch Hub

New buy to let limited edition products and lower rates

Residential Rate Reduction

Today, we pass yet another milestone on our journey to bring you and your customers simple, fast mortgages.

Building on the enhanced criteria we introduced in June, we’re now rolling out a simpler Residential product offering. Our goal is to give you more straightforward options for your homeowner customers.

As part of this enhancement, we’ve also made rate reductions of up to 35 bps!

Here’s what’s new;

• Streamlined our product range
• Up to 35bps rate reductions on 2-year fixed-term products
• Up to 30bps rate reductions on 5-year fixed-term products.
• Re-designed rate guide, simplifying our offering.

Simpler, faster Residential mortgages are just one click away;

[Get started here]

New case study from TFI

Buy to Let lending now available in Scotland

We’ve launched new limited edition buy to let rates

Individual & Company landlords with single residential investment properties New 2 year fixed with 3% fee to 75% LTV, 5.09%  

Multi property product for Individual and company landlords with residential investment property portfolios New 2 year fixed with 3% fee to 75% LTV, 4.99% 

Regulation Watch 21 July 2024

FCA calls on firms to improve treatment of politically exposed persons (PEPs) | FCA

• Under legislation adopted by Parliament, financial firms are required to do extra checks on so-called politically exposed persons (PEPs). This follows global standards set by the international Financial Action Task Force and implemented by more than 200 jurisdictions.
• There have been concerns about how firms in the UK are meeting these requirements and so the FCA has reviewed how firms are treating PEPs.
• The FCA found that most firms in its review did not subject PEPs to excessive or disproportionate checks and none would deny them an account based on their status. However all firms could improve. The regulator has told firms that they should:
  • ensure their definition of a PEP, family member or close associate is tightened to the minimum required by law and not go beyond that
  • review the status of PEPs and their associates promptly once they leave public office
  • communicate to PEPs effectively and in line with the Consumer Duty, explaining the reasons for their actions where possible
  • effectively consider the actual level of risk posed by the customer, and ensure that information requests are proportionate to those risks
  • improve the training offered to staff who deal with PEPs
• GC24/4: Proposed amendments to Guidance on the treatment of politically exposed persons | FCA – the FCA are consulting on changes to our Guidance for firms on applying a proportionate and risk-based approach to UK Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), their relatives and close associates for anti-money laundering purposes. The FCA consultation closes on 18 October 2024.

Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)- Ombudsman News 193 (financial-ombudsman.org.uk) – highlights:

• Banking complaints hit a 10-year high – as previously updated in Reg Watch the latest annual complaints data on financial products and services is now available. It shows that in 2023/24, complaints about banking and payments have reached their highest level in at least a decade.
• Information for professional representatives – guidance for professional representatives about referring a complaint to the FOS for investigation.

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) – Nationwide Building Society / Virgin Money merger inquiry – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• Clearance decision – The CMA has cleared the anticipated acquisition by Nationwide Building Society of Virgin Money UK PLC. Full text to be published at a later date.

Financial Stability Board (FSB) – Virtual public workshop on the evaluation of the effects of the G20 financial regulatory reforms on securitisation – Financial Stability Board (fsb.org)

• Join us virtually on 22 August at 13:00-15:00 CEST to discuss our consultation report on the evaluation of the effects of the G20 financial regulatory reforms on securitisation.
• This virtual workshop will discuss the preliminary findings of the FSB’s evaluation of the effects of the G20 financial regulatory reforms on securitisation. The evaluation focuses:
  • in terms of reforms, on the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) minimum retention recommendations and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) revisions to prudential requirements for banks’ securitisation-related exposures; and
  • in terms of scope, on the collateralised debt/loan obligation (CDO/CLO) and the non-government-guaranteed part of the residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market segments.
• The event is open to all. Register here.

UK Finance (UKF) – What are the potential unintended consequences of PSR rules changes? | Insights | UK Finance – INTERNATIONAL MARKET PLANNING; FINANCIAL SERVICES SME, LEXISNEXIS® RISK SOLUTIONS:

• The world is watching closely as the deadline looms closer for the UK Payment Systems Regulator’s (PSR) rule changes due in October.
• But with changes in government and management at the PSR taking place recently, as well as intense lobbying from some parts, much is uncertain about how the regulations will look when they finally come into force.
• The new split reimbursement model as it is currently outlined will divide liability for fraud cases equally between paying and receiving firms, meaning that as a precaution, banks and payment service providers will need to put fraud controls around inbound as well as outbound payments with the ultimate goal of safeguarding consumers from scams.
• With these bold regulatory changes set to have such a fundamental impact on financial services, we take a look at some of the moving parts and possible unintended consequences of these controversial rules if they were to come into force in their current state.

Mortgage Solutions – Landlords are getting younger as 30-somethings eye portfolio growth – Paragon (mortgagesolutions.co.uk)

• The average age of landlords buying new rental properties has fallen in the last 10 years, and those in their 30s seek to expand their portfolios, analysis from a lender found.
• A Paragon Bank analysis of UKF data revealed the average age of buy-to-let (BTL) landlords purchasing new property dropped from 46.4 years old in 2014 to 42.9 years old last year.
• This has been fuelled by a rise in the share of purchases made by landlords in their 30s.
• In 2014, 21% of rental property purchases with a BTL mortgage were made by a landlord in their 30s, compared to 31% last year.
• Paragon Bank’s Next Generation Landlord Report found that the proportion of landlords in their 40s acquiring new properties stayed consistent over the decade, falling slightly from 34% in 2014 to 32% in 2023.

Mortgage product availability picks up in the second quarter (mortgagesolutions.co.uk)

• Mortgage product availability has improved for first-time buyers and BTL landlords in the second quarter of the year.
• According to Octane Capital, first-time buyers’ product availability has improved by 7.7% between March and June of this year to around 700 deals.
• This is also 12% up from the end of last year. However, first-time buyer deals only account for 7.1% of all mortgage products on the market.
• BTL landlords’ product availability jumped by 6.2% in the last three months to around 2,016. This is also up by 2.5% at the end of last year.
• BTL products made up around 20.4% of total products.
• Remortgage accounted for the largest proportion of products at 3,455, equal to 35% of total products. This is a 3.2% uptick in product availability during the last three months and 9% up on the end of last year.
• Moving home had around 3,323 deals, making up 33.6% of total products. This represents a 5.6% improvement in product availability in the last three months and is 10.8% up on December.

Pricing Drop!

I am pleased to let you know we are reducing our pricing at midnight tonight across 27 products. We are also discontinuing a some products. Please see below summary of the changes. Reducing rates by 5, 10, 20 and 25bps across 27 products, details below: –

o Standard 5Y fixed 65% and 75% LTV by 5 bps

o Reduced Small HMO/MUFB 2Y fixed 65% and 75% LTV, including LR by 10 bps 

o Reduced Standard 2Y and 5Y fixed 65% and 75% LTV, including Like for Like by 10 bps

o Reduced Standard 2Y fixed 65% LTV and LR 2Y standard 75% LTV by 20 bps

o Reduced Standard 2Y fixed 75% LTV including Like for Like products by 25 bps

o Removing Like for Like Standard 2 Year Fixed 65% LTV 4% Fee

Product News: Product Launch 23.07.2024

On Tuesday 23^rd July we’re making rate amendments to the 95% LTV products of our 3 and 5 Year products across the Core purchase residential range. All products listed revert to WBBS SVR (currently 6.74% variable) for the term. Customers may benefit from a lower reversionary variable rate dependent upon their respective Loan to Value (LTV).

Withdrawn Products – The following products will be withdrawn from COB Monday 22^nd July:

New product update for Precise, KRFI

KENT RELIANCE – Buy To Let – We made a range of rate improvements across our Buy To let products

• New limited edition BTL product range – up to 70% LTV
• 2 year fixed from 4.54%, 5 Year Fixed from 4.79%
• No Maximum Loan Size
• LTD company SPV and more complex structures considered.
• HMO and MUFBS now up to 20 units considered.

We’ve also improved our product transfer rates as well!

• New reduced product transfer rates from 4.99%
• 1,2,3 & 5 year options available

Download our product guide →

PRECISE. – Residential – To compliment our already popular Residential range Precise have also introduced LTD edition rates

• Rates from 5.39%
• Available up to 75%
• Available across all tiers 0-5 to suit all credit profiles
• CCJs and defaults over 24 months not counted
• Unsecured arrears not counted
• Self employed 1 year trading

Weve also updated some criteria:

• Max age for applicant at end of term now 75
• Pension income now included in the minimum £15k earned income needed
• Can now accept applicants in a probationary period at application.  
• DMPS – no longer needed to have run for 12 months

Download our product guide →

PRECISE. – BUY TO LET – Product transfer rates reduced by up to 0.30%

• Rates starting from only 4.79%
• 1,2,3 & 5 Yar products available             
• HMO, MUB personal or LTD company applications considered.

Download our product guide →

Change to VM Exclusives

Current VM Exclusives are being withdrawn at 8pm this evening with new rates live in the morning.

• NEW 90% LTV Purchase 2 Year Fixed Rate with £995 fee and free valuation at 5.19%.
• 95% LTV Purchase Fix & Switch fee-saver will be reduced by 0.05% to 5.84%.
• 75% LTV Remortgage 5 Year Fixed Rate with £895 fee will be reduced by 0.14% to 4.40%. 
• 75% BTL 5 Year £895 fee at 4.66% – no change

Weekly Service Update & 3 ‘Red Hot Things’

Service at 22^nd July 2024:

Virgin Money:

• Initial Assessment:- 2 days
• Correspondence & Valuations:– 2 days to assess documents and valuations
• Speed to Offer – rolling month:–  10 days
• Post Offer:- 2 days
• Calls:–  99% calls & 99% webchat – Average wait 00.22 & longest wait 13.00

• Policy Exceptions:– 3 days
• New adviser registrations:- 1 day
• Product Transfers – Offers 3 days; Correspondence 2 days; Underwriting 2 days

Clydesdale Bank:

• Initial assessment:- 2 days
• Correspondence & Valuations:- 3 days to assess documents and 4 days to assess valuations
• Offers:- 2 days
• Speed to Offer:- 17 days
  • Cases fully packaged at outset are achieving lower speed to offer timescales
  • Average speed to offer is working days based on applications received since April 2021.
• New adviser registrations:
  • Adviser already on VM panel and firm already on CB panel:- <2 days
  • All other registration requests:- <5 days.
• Product Transfers:- 2 days

Our most common questions this week focusing on our new Retrofit Boost mortgage range…

What is the retrofit mortgage?

• Our Retrofit Boost mortgages are a new range of 5, 7, and 10-year fixed rate mortgages. They provide cashback to help clients  when making improvements such as, installing insulation, solar panels, battery storage, or heat pumps to their properties..

What cashback will the client receive?

• 10 year fixed rate -£15,000
• 7 year Fixed rate – £10,000
• 5 year fixed rate – £3000

What are the key benefits of this product

• Money in their bank
• No increase to mortgage balance: Cashback can help avoid additional borrowing, which could save on interest over the term.
• Installation offers also available: We’ve teamed up with Hive, who can supply and fit the right kit, with packages matched to the cashback amounts.

Which types of clients can have this rate:

• Residential clients – Purchase and remortgage
• BTL clients – Purchase and remortgage

For more information, please see our key facts page on the retrofit Boost mortgages

• https://intermediaries.virginmoney.com/downloads/pdf/retrofit-boost-mortgage-important-information-for-you.pdf

What are the rates available.. see our product guide attached:

• https://intermediaries.virginmoney.com/downloads/pdf/product_guide.pdf

NEW Limited Edition products from Paragon

Update: Significant Changes To Our Buy-to-Let Products

Buy-to-Let Product Updates – We are making changes to our 1^st Charge Buy-to-Let fixed product range. The revised fixed rate product range will be available for selection on our broker portal from Monday 22^nd July 2024. The changes affect our Core and Complex product ranges. A summary of some of the changes are noted below: Product Changes:

➡️ 2-year fixed rates now starting from 2.84%

➡️ 5-year fixed rates now starting from 4.29%

➡️ Standard 5-year fixed rate reduced by 5bps – 15bps

➡️ Standard 2-year fixed rate, specialist 2-year fixed rate (Above next to Commercial) and Specialist 2-year fixed rate (Small HMO/MUFB) reduced by 20bps – 25bps

➡️ Specialist 5-year fixed (Small HMO/MUFB)

➡️ All W2 and W3 products reduced by 15bps and 10bps respectively

Criteria Changes (Core range ONLY):

➡️ Increase maximum loan size to £3 million gross on standard and specialist product range

➡️ Ability to do foreign national cases where borrower has no existing UK property. (LTV capped at 65% gross by referral)

➡️ Ability to do expat cases where borrower has no existing UK property. (LTV capped at 70% gross by referral)

We’re withdrawing our residential 95% LTV rates

Repriced acquisition products notification

Self-employed using latest SA302.

Self-employed using latest SA302

• Self-employed individual
• Looking to borrow 85% LTV on 4x their salary
• Some missed credit card payments and a high debt-to-income ratio made things tricky
• A DIP with Precise using the customer’s latest SA302 income evidence was successful and cascaded to a Tier 1 product

Service Issue – Royal London – 19/07/2024 6:31AM

Please be advised that Royal London are currently experiencing some service issues. This is affecting all services.

We will keep you updated and where the cause of the outage is confirmed, we will share this information with you, though this is not always provided to us.

At the risk of bragging

Here’s everything we have brought you for the past 6 months:

The Criteria Mixtape

TFI Product Update

With effect from today (19 July) we are making the following changes to our product range:

Withdrawn:

• Issue 725, Teacher exclusive 5 year fixed rate (fixed until 14.06.2029), available up to 80% LTV, for purchase and remortgage, 5.09%.
• Issue 726, Teacher exclusive 5 year fixed rate (fixed until 14.06.2029), available up to 90% LTV, for purchase and remortgage, 5.19%.

Launched:

• Issue 731, Teacher exclusive 5 year fixed rate (fixed until 14.08.2029), available up to 80% LTV, for purchase and remortgage, 4.99%.
• Issue 732, Teacher exclusive 5 year fixed rate (fixed until 14.08.2029), available up to 90% LTV, for purchase and remortgage, 5.04%.

• Issue 733, available to all, 5 year fixed rate (fixed until 14.08.2029), available up to 90% LTV, for purchase and remortgage, 5.44%. Full details of our current product range are included in the product guide:

Product Launch 19.07.2024

On Friday 19 July we are making the following changes to our product range: Home mover and first time buyer products – Rate reductions of up to 0.15% on selected products. Remortgage products – Rate reductions of up to 0.22% on selected products. Product transfer and further advance products – Rate reductions of up to 0.17% on selected products

Further information

New mortgage package wef 19.07.2024

The Society’s revised mortgage package wef 19^th July 2024.

You will note the following changes;

• Selected fixed rates for House Purchase & Remortgage improved
• Selected fixed rates for Foreign Currency House Purchase & Remortgage improved

You will note the changes to the mortgage package are identified in red in the attached document. I would be very much obliged if you could update your records accordingly.