Danny Waters says the launch by specialist lender West One Loans of a range of first charge buy-to-let mortgage products is evidence of the firm's commitment to providing a wider reach of products to meet the needs of borrowers.
Waters, chief executive officer of Enra Group -- of which West One Loans is part -- believes that clients will benefit from the business initiative that delivers a common-sense approach to lending
A dedicated team of in-house developers have created an innovative broker portal to support the launch with the IT platform designed specifically for buy-to-let brokers. The company says the development will be followed by the addition of a broker case hub. This, it says, will enable intermediaries to benefit from streamlined processes and enhanced communication with West One’s team of underwriters.
And Waters said:
“Our launch into the first charge buy-to-let mortgage market is an exciting new chapter for West One, and can be seen as the next step in our growth following the successful launch of development finance last year, as well as second charge mortgages in 2017.
"To meet the needs of borrowers who would benefit from a common-sense approach to lending, we are committed to providing a wider reach of specialist lending products. Our extensive experience within the property finance market puts us in a great position to understand the market complexities and comes in addition to focusing on delivering a painless-as-possible process of obtaining a buy-to-let mortgage."
With wider distribution on the horizon, the range will include both standard and specialist products that will initially be available through a chosen number of launch partners such as Enterprise Finance, Vantage Finance, Brightstar, Dynamo and Connect for Intermediaries.
The standard range will be available to both individual and limited company borrowers secured against standard property types -- and the specialist range caters for HMOs, MUFBs, ex-pats, holiday lets and Airbnb properties.
Products on offer include two- and five-year fixed term -- with rates starting from 3.39 per cent -- with a maximum loan to value of 80 per cent and loan sizes up to £2million. And for individual borrowers re-mortgaging up to a loan size of £750,000 a fast-track re-mortgage option will be available.
Ying Tan, who is the managing director of Dynamo for Intermediaries, said the firm was delighted to be extending the partnership with the team at West One Loans to include a range of buy-to-let mortgage products, adding:
"We believe this will be a valuable and competitive addition to the marketplace and look forward to officially adding West One to our lending panel to provide an even wider range of options to landlords.”
Meanwhile, to help the West One team establish the business, the lender has recruited the vastly experienced Andrew Ferguson. He has been appointed after fulfilling senior roles in the buy-to-let mortgage sector at Kent Reliance, Axis Bank (he set up the BTL lending service in this period) and, most recently, as commercial director at Foundation Home Loans. Waters added:
“We are delighted to bring Andrew on board He has a track record of building lending business in the buy- to-let sector. As we look to establish West One Loans in the market, his wealth of knowledge and experience will be an asset.”