Bridging Introducer May 2019

BRIDGING

May 2019

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INTRODUCER

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A measured approach Narinder Khattoare talks P2P and bridging BRIDGING IN-DEPTH

INDUSTRY COMMENT

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Comment

Publishing Editor Robyn Hall Robyn@mortgageintroducer.com @RobynHall Managing Editor Ryan Fowler Ryan@mortgageintroducer.com @RyanFowlerMI Deputy Editor Jessica Nangle Jessica@mortgageintroducer.com News Editor Ryan Bembridge RyanB@mortgageintroducer.com Reporter Michael Lloyd Michael@mortgageintroducer.com Editorial Director Nia Williams Nia@mortgageintroducer.com @mortgagechat Commercial Director Matt Bond Matt@mortgageintroducer.com Advertising Manager Francesca Ramsey Francesca@mortgageintroducer.com Campaign Manager Joanna Cooney joanna@mortgageintroducer.com Production Editor Felix Blakeston Felix@mortgageintroducer.com Head of Marketing Robyn Ashman RobynA@mortgageintroducer.com Printed & distributed in England by The Magazine Printing Company, using only paper from FSC/PEFC suppliers www.magprint.co.uk

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INTRODUCER Information carried in Mortgage Introducer is checked for accuracy but the views or opinions do not necessarily represent those of Mortgage Introducer Ltd.

May 2019 www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

BRIDGING

INTRODUCER Brexit uncertainty is continuing to be a constraint on the UK residential property market with new instructions falling further to their lowest point since June 2016, according to the latest survey report from RICS. Uncertainty isn’t good for any martket and the lack of any real news coming out of Westminster on Brexit isn’t helping anyone at all.

Hopefully for everyone the powers that be can pull together and sort out this mess sooner rather than later.

Closer to home the latest “Bridging Bridging Trends report has loan volume arrived to provide a transacted by snapshot of the market in Q1. contributors to It found that bridging the survey stood loan volume transacted by contributors to the survey at £185m in Q1” stood at £185.32m in Q1 2019.

That’s some 8% lower than the £201.57m lent by contributors in Q4 2018 but 20% higher than a year earlier (£154.02m).

This comes as two new contributors join Bridging Trends - specialist finance packagers, Impact Specialist Finance (previously AToM), and UK Property Finance.

It’s good to get such snapshots of the market and at a time of continued upheaval it’s a good barometer for those engaged in specialist finance.

We take a closer look at Briging Trends on page 42.

Elsewhere this issue we see Andrew Hosford pick up the work being done in the bridging industry to promote equality for women (see page 5).

At Bridging Introducer we strongly support the the cause and hope that we all see positive changes on this front moving forward.

Let’s hope that when we look back on 2019 we view it as a year where we saw substantial and meaningful changes on a number of fronts.

5 Andrew Hosford

Time that women had an equal voice

7 Kevin Thomson

All about the broker

9 James Walker

Lessons in specialism

11 Brian West

Providing innovation in bridging

12 Harriet Smith

Rebridging the bridge

15 Chris Oatway

Time to get involved with specialist finance

16-25 Feature: Education for the masses

Michael Lloyd asks if it’s the time for brokers to improve their bridging know how

27 Benson Hersch

The latest from the ASTL

30 Round-table

This month’s industry debate

36 Cover Story: A measured approach

Kuflink’s Narinder Khattoare talks peer-to-peer

42 Bridging Trends

Proud to be an award-winning lender

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Best Bridging Lender

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MAY 2019

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3

Tell them you’ve found someone who really understands you.

When it comes to property, we care about developing something meaningful.

Call us on 0203 846 6809 or visit intermediaries.lendinvest.com. LendInvest Limited is registered at 8 Mortimer Street, London, W1T 3JJ (Company 08146929).

ICO number ZA179467. Your client’s property may be repossessed if they do not keep up repayments on their mortgage. For intermediaries only.

Comment News

Behind every good man…

The days of such adages should be behind us all

Stands a great woman, or so they say. As positive as that old saying was meant to be, I would like to think that the great women of the world are finally standing shoulder to shoulder with the men.

This is a pretty tough article for me to write. I am male and am conscious that I could very easily sound either naïve or patronising here.

But I was asked to comment on a topic that has been highlighted recently thanks to another of our industry media outlets. I think the tweet Caron Schreuder, Medianett MD, raised an interesting question.

For those that haven’t seen it this is what she wrote.

“I propose that men + women in finance question the make-up of panels, roundtables + events they’re asked to participate in. Only women? Ask the organiser why and, crucially, how? A man + there isn’t decent representation for women?

Decline the invitation until it’s rectified.”

Twitter limits the number of characters in a post, which I think is why I struggled understanding some of the tweet. However, the general message is clear and correct.

Why is there still such a disparity in our industry when the wider world seems to be finally moving towards a place of equality? Or if not total equality, certainly an improved level of female representation.

I’m looking forward to catching up with Caron soon to discuss this further and to get a better understanding of what she sees and hears regarding women’s inclusion in events, panels and roundtables.

Her own awards have a voting panel of 30 people which includes only five women.

I don’t know, but assume, that this played a part in Caron’s desire to carry on all the good work that the www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

current women in property groups are doing and really shine a light on the disparity that is still evident in the short-term finance world.

Assuming that a relatively equal number of invites for men and women went out to be on the judging panel, why did so few women decline to be involved? I sat on the judging panel a few years ago and it was an incredible experience, but from memory I think there was only one, possibly two women in the room. I guess that makes five women an improvement, albeit an unacceptably slow one.

What can we do then, not just the men, but all of us do to improve this clear disparity? There are so many brilliant women in the industry at all levels, so what is it that is holding back their exposure? The property world has historically been a boy’s club, but from where I am sat that

Andrew Hosford director – head of bridging, Voltaire

seems to be well in the past.

Perhaps it’s not though and I am just incredibly fortunate to be surrounded and influenced by incredible women in our industry.

When I first entered the property world 10 years ago, I was mentored by a phenomenal woman, who still teaches me new tricks and skills and is my go-to when a deal has me stumped. Whatever the solution is, and I truly believe there is an achievable one on the horizon, I am excited to question the issues, listen to the views of all involved and hopefully help where I can.

Well done Caron for highlighting this issue again. Regardless of me writing for a rival publication I think we can all agree that it will take all of us in our industry to achieve a totally fair and equal platform for the incredible women we are surrounded by.

MAY 2019 BRIDGING INTRODUCER

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Comment News

To buy or not to buy A knowledgeable broker can help answer your questions

Buying is always a big step, whether the client is looking to buy a home to live in or a commercial property to trade their business from.

The one thing both residential and commercial purchases have in common is that the vast majority require a mortgage, the biggest challenge of which can be raising enough deposit.

Commercial interest rates, similar to residential, tend to be lower the higher the deposit raised.

The positive of buying is that ultimately the person owns the asset, whether that is the residential home or commercial premises, whereas paying rent can be viewed as “dead money”.

Despite the number of first-time buyer numbers rising in the residential arena, there is a perceptible cultural shift towards renting rather than buying. It will be interesting to see if this trend starts to carry through to the commercial market too.

As always, there are pros and cons between renting and buying, as much for a commercial property as for residential, but the pros can outweigh the cons for the right businesses.

When renting, one big difference is the lease on commercial premises is usually a ‘full repair and insuring lease’ (FRI) meaning the tenant is responsible for the repair

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of the property where, of course, the repair of a residential lease falls on the landlord.

The person renting is of course also susceptible to increases in rent by their landlord and commercial leases are generally for a longer period of time than for residential.

This is something that has hit many a headline with regards to high street shops going out of business as they struggle to make ends meet while their rents continue to rise.

On the positive, when renting commercial premises, a business usually has the flexibility to upscale or downsize relatively easily in line with the needs of their business.

Even a longer lease will usually have break clauses in it if a business needs to vacate or change their current premises.

A business buying the property they operate out of, does need to bear in mind how much this enables or hampers the mobility or expansion of their business. Also, how much the purchased building meets their future or ongoing business needs.

It can be hard to release money tied up in a commercial property if a business needs it quickly, although a remortgage for capital raising purposes is always possible.

Increasingly businesses that own their properties have access to bridging finance secured against

Kevin Thomson corporate sales director, Connect

their commercial property. This can give them access to money quickly to meet a business need or take advantage of an opportunity in a way that just may not be available to businesses renting.

If a business can afford to buy a property that is larger than they need, then they can also sub-let the premises to generate additional income, a bit like someone could rent out a room in their home.

What is more, unlike in residential, a portion of the interest on commercial mortgage repayments is tax deductible, which can reduce the costs for a business.

Of course, sale of a commercial property will depend on demand, and the commercial market can be very different to the residential one.

It can also take a lot longer to sell and, as with all property, the value may go up or down depending on demand for property of that type in that area.

As a broker with commercial clients it is useful to be able to advise on the pros and cons. A client without an existing broker relationship will no doubt have approached the bank providing their business accounts.

Whilst this may be an option it is not always good to have all business affairs with one bank and this is where a good commercial broker comes into their own.

A good broker will be able to compare the whole market, including high street lenders, to obtain the best solution.

This may or may not produce the cheapest rate but can provide other value such as business flexibility.

If it is not something you look at every day, access to a trusted master broker can be invaluable to guide you through and help you keep your client.

MAY 2019 BRIDGING INTRODUCER

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Comment News

Lessons that have been learnt There’s always something new to be picked up

Avid readers of Bridging Introducer will notice that Bret Jackson usually covers the articles for BWD, but you have been left in my capable hands this time around.

Whilst I am sure you are used to my compatriots’ lovely insights in to the industry, and how his mind works for that matter, I wanted to utilise this opportunity to firstly introduce myself and secondly, comment on a few things about this sector I have learnt.

Myself and my fellow directors Gareth and Alistair, formed BWD 12 years ago to provide specialist financial services only recruitment.

As experienced professionals from the industry, we appreciate the frustrations of finding the right people for the right positions, hence the company was formed.

From our humble beginnings of wealth management and sales and distribution, we now have seven dedicated divisions, one of which is for the specialist lending market.

This is not a market I was overly familiar with but was one of interest and very pleased to have entered.

One of the reasons for expanding our London presence with a new office, was the specialist lending market.

Whilst our head office in Leeds can manage the majority of business, a permanent London home that we can expand into was imperative.

These sentiments were backed by one of our newer accounts, Hampshire Trust Bank. Alex Searle, sales director, Hampshire Trust Bank said: “BWD are one of our leading recruitment partners, who have provided HTB with some excellent candidates.

“By having a new London presence, it provides the opportunity to discuss our plans and requirements www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

for positions when required, growing our already excellent relationship. We are excited to have BWD here.”

Reading about new lenders coming to market, firms expanding, opening new offices is just brilliant to read, on a near daily basis.

Whether they are existing or new clients, the buzz associated within the capital is clear to see.

Just like BWD, we want to assist those firms with their own ambitious plans.

Many people have commented on how people make this industry, and I couldn’t agree more. I had the pleasure of meeting Robyn Hall, the publishing editor of this very publication.

Sharing our vision with him and leveraging off his experience and knowledge. He was only too willing to assist.

This provided me with the further assurances about the industry’s bright future and how we can be apart of it.

Despite the extended period of uncertainty, the property finance sector has continued to get on with business. Working on positions for lending managers, specific to development finance is an excellent indication of this.

I have recently moved to a new build, enduring the usual stress to get things completed. But on the plus side, this development site was completely taken.

Granted, this is not a small development and is by one of the major house builders, but nonetheless, people are continuing life as normal.

As the sector continues to grow, additional people are required. It is clear there is a finite number of individuals in the market, so how does the specialist finance market

James Walker, managing director, BWD

entice other financial services professionals to move? The transferable skills from other sectors are present, especially at a BDM/account management level.

Financial advisers are increasingly utilising the services offered by the sector, but there is scope for this to grow further.

Individuals who deal with advisers daily are in a prime position to open up new avenues for lenders and brokers alike.

Continuing with the advisory community, BWD recently conducted a BDM Quality Census, obtaining the opinions of financial advisers on these representatives.

Whilst this was based on the investment, platform and pension world, some of the results can be transferred across.

For example, 77% of advisers stated they engage with BDMs for support on individual cases and 60% for the provision of technical knowledge.

From discussions I have had, BDMs are an essential link between broker, adviser and end client, just like they are in the investment market, if not more.

They are specialists who know their products and what is possible.

Just as important are the frustrations. 25% of advisers felt they are hard to get hold of and nearly a third (32%) stated their contact changes too often.

Since the release of the census report, we have been asked if we will conduct a protection & lending version.

We will be discussing with our partners at Mortgage Introducer and Bridging Introducer, to decide if this will be conducted at a later date.

Thank you for your time and look forward to working with you in the future.

MAY 2019 BRIDGING INTRODUCER

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Comment News

Providing innovation in bridging Driving the industry despite the politicians

Just a few years ago Belgium had a period of nearly two years without a government, a period which saw the Belgian economy outpacing growth in both neighbouring Germany and the wider Euro zone.

Perhaps there is a parallel to be drawn here with the current Brexit uncertainty and political paralysis in Westminster; after all the UK economy outperformed Italy, France and Germany last year.

It seems that whilst our politicians engage in a pro-longed spell of self-induced navel gazing the rest of the UK population just cracks on without undue interference from the inhabitants of Westminster who, in so many cases, have no hands-on business experience anyway.

Consequently, the economy, including the specialist finance sector and our own little corner of it, bridge lending, continue to defy all expectations and thrive.

Maturing market

Bridging finance is a maturing market that’s evolving and developing to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse range of individuals and businesses seeking a fast and effective solution to their many and varied financial needs.

Whilst interest rates remain at historically low levels new lenders have been propelled to market on a wave of liquidity from funders seeking a more attractive return on their money.

Private investors and family offices, hedge funds, challenger banks and even the average man in the street through peer to peer platforms have fuelled the growth of the market in terms of the volume and diversity of business being written and the sheer number and scope of lenders.

This increasing competition has www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

under-pinned a prolonged rate war where, in truth, the extent of product innovation by some lenders sadly seems to have been driving prices down, pushing up loan to values (LTV’s) up or a dangerous combination of both!

Of course, in some respects this has been very positive for clients but equally there can also be negative consequences.

Examples of disgruntled clients who have been “hooked” with a superficially attractive headline rate only to be told during the processing of the loan that they no longer qualify for this are commonplace.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that such quotes are taking a calculated gamble that in a timeconstrained scenario, clients will be forced to accept a rate increase late in the day to get their deal across the line.

Perhaps this is tied in with a growing trend among some newer entrants to the market who adopt a “we’ll beat that quote” approach in order to win business – never a marketing strategy that’s likely to achieve market longevity!

Rate pressure

In recent months we have all seen the potentially severe consequences of an excessive reliance on driving down rates and increasing LTV’s as a means of either winning or maintaining market share.

There has to be more to product innovation than trumpeting “lowest ever rates” or “new higher LTV’s” and thankfully there is now a growing body of evidence that there is.

The best lenders in our sector realise that there is much more to a deal than simply LTV and that only by fully understanding each borrower can a loan be tailored specifically to meet their unique

Brian Strange Mike West managing director, Central director, Bridging Funding 365

requirements. Rather than a onesize-fits all mentality driven by algorithm’s and automated procedures these lenders realise that there is no substitute for highly experienced underwriters.

This is not to say they eschew technology, far from it in fact.

Bridging lenders aren’t encumbered by the legacy systems that can act as a drag on high street banks and larger institutions freeing them up to use technology to compliment the skills of their underwriters and business development managers.

Rather than technology for technology’s sake the most innovative lenders ensure that they work in tandem with their introducers to deliver increased efficiencies, improved turnaround times (TAT) and a market leading customer experience.

Hand in hand with process improvements these lenders are also the one’s, by and large, that deliver genuine product as well as process innovation.

At Central we are now writing loans with a diverse range of assetbacked securities, our most recent being secured against a gem collection. Furthermore, new base rate linked funding allows us to write loans in the range of £5m-£50m to compliment our core bridging products.

Others have developed the skills and expertise to lend in new jurisdictions across Europe and beyond whilst conversely brilliantly bespoke products for overseas investors have been instrumental in driving huge inflows of foreign investment into the UK. In so many, different ways the bridging industry continues to diversify, innovate and frankly punch above its weight in terms of its contribution to UK PLC. Long may this continue…

MAY 2019 BRIDGING INTRODUCER

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Comment

Rebridging the bridge Some 13% of the current bridging activity is rebridging

We need to agree on a given at the start of this article, despite what is happening in the wider economy the bridging sector continues to grow apace. All major market stats, more lenders, better rates and higher maximum loan sizes all corroborate this statement.

And the applicant’s use of these loans also remains pretty constant with auction purchase, business, refurbishment and mortgage delays taking up the bulk of the market.

But as Ernst & Young’s 2018 UK Bridging Market Study reported rebridging is gaining in popularity, accounting for 13% of the total sector market.

Now much like the word ‘bridging’ a decade ago, ‘rebridging’ is still regarded in many quarters as a dirty word. It implies something has gone wrong, but with more and more successful applications the market has to adapt to the everyday problems that face the applicant.

A bridge too far

Surrey-based nursing home which was incorrectly valued as residential property two years’ previously, and a rebridge was required to avoid penalties while the situation was cleared up – but generally the criteria was incorrect.

At this juncture we, as an industry, still have to find a solution for that individual client because that is why we are here, but more has to be done at the outset to avoid these situations.

But of course it is not all bad…

Rebuilding bridges

If a client jumps from lender to lender as they haven’t correctly planned the exit, then this is still a problem. It raises questions relating to everyone in the initial application process and begs the question why this issue was not clearly identified at the outset.

Yes there are anomalies – we recently saw details of a new start

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According to the report refurbishment remains the biggest bridging sector at 27%, and this is where more anomalies can strike than any other purpose. Any construction project is fraught with non-planned possibilities for delay and general disruption.

We had a client who was doing extension work on his property, however during the course of construction some complexities came to light which cost £50k more. A rebridge was the right option to raise additional funds and extend the term.

In another case a UK national based in Monaco owned a £10m property in Central London, the lender agreed £5m but reneged on the last £1m to complete refurb. The applicant rebridged onto a two-year

MAY 2019

Harriet Smith head of bridging finance, Crystal Specialist Finance

facility with 12 months retained interest to complete the task at hand.

In the report mortgage delays accounted for 25% of the market and 15% came under the category ‘other’, and sometimes a rebridge covers both these sectors.

A property was held in trust for a daughter, when the trust deed was enacted the private bank didn’t want to lend to the individual so a bridge was used to repay the private bank pending sale.

This was March 2018, and the property was on the market for sale with a large reputable agent, but the offers received were below the figure they wanted. In March 2019 an offer was accepted but didn’t leave enough time to complete, so a rebridge enabled the sale and avoided further costs and fees.

Don’t believe the hype

It is important to plan the bridge correctly where possible and to take the correct term – however bridging is a problem solving product so inherently is more flexible than other forms of finance.

The key is transparency and owning the problem early. If an issue is encountered it is much better to discuss the situation with the broker or lender part way through than simply hoping everything will be OK, because it is in everyone’s interest for the bridge to work.

Come this point the market again opens up to the applicant. It may be that term finance is the best option, but at no point should a rebridge be discounted simply because it carries the wrong connotations.

Bridging is becoming more-andmore commonplace and as such rebridging will naturally become more-and-more prevalent.

And if it’s right for the customer, it is simply the right option. www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

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Comment News

The time is right to upskill The opportunity is there for mortgage advisers step up

Development exit loans can help developers to manage their cash flow while they market a completed scheme, and they are proving particularly popular in the current market of slow property transactions.

Over the past few years the property market has performed much better outside of London with areas such as Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool thriving in recent years. UK landlords and overseas investors have moved their focus away from London and the South East to seek new opportunities, focussing on yield, and to reduce their stamp duty burden for new transactions.

We have seen a large number of what were previously standard buyto-let investors looking for one or two bed apartments in strong areas with capital growth, now targeting HMOs and/or semi-commercial units, many of which have a development angle. Some of the benefits to the property investor here include; paying less stamp duty due to the property being bought at a lower price than the gross development value, a higher yield and that they can release some of the equity from the development once completed to invest into another opportunity.

Property investors are also looking at more quirky types of transactions where they can add value through planning, secure properties at auction, or purchase below market value with speed. With the ever-changing market landscape, mortgage advisers need to be consistently upskilling their knowledge so they can continue providing the correct solutions for clients. Before an adviser attempts to take on specialist finance deals, they should attend workshops, meet with the lenders, go to conferences and take advice from their network or professional associations like the in order www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

to improve their knowledge and expertise. They should work closely alongside an experienced adviser in the sector or a packager for the first few deals to build their understanding of the process. In contrast to a standard residential application where most of the hard work finishes at formal offer stage, specialist finance deals often require support all the way through to completion as the valuation and legals almost invariably raise some potential concerns or issues to overcome.

Bridging would be a good area to start, and there are many straight forward cases that can be completed while the adviser builds confidence.

However, there can be very large variances in the complexity of bridging cases, and problems can arise when a simple bridging loan application turns more complex than expected. An example of this is if a client changes their approach and seeks to add value through construction or planning. When this occurs, the nature of the transaction changes completely, different lenders may need to be considered and an adviser needs to have a deeper understanding of the sector to present the deal in the right way to the most suitable lenders.

Certain considerations need to be made when advisers look to operate in the bridging lending market. A poorly structured deal can have many serious effects on both the borrower and lenders but also the broker/client relationship. When completing bridging finance, sourcing the right lender is much more nuanced than focussing purely on the rate and fees. Understanding the strength of the client’s intended exit, default interest, the way a lender will value a site, monitoring fees are of vital importance too.

An often overlooked factor which

Chris Oatway director, LDNfinance

less experienced specialist advisers may not view as relevant, is to consider how the lender is funded which can often determine the speed the deal can complete and whether there are additional layers of credit that needs to be signed off before completion. The worst situation a client could face is being let down by a lender at an advanced stage of a purchase, and it is up to the adviser to predict these hurdles and put managing steps in place, so this doesn’t occur. This is even more crucial when it comes to development finance as the developer needs to have the comfort that the lender have sufficient funds and strength to support them through the life of the project.

The development finance area is suited to the highest quality of advisers with the most experience in the sector, and because of the complexities, it requires considerable learning if mortgage advisers would like to move into this area.

The presentation of a project to a lender should only be done once the adviser has taken the time to understand the deal in full. The adviser needs to have the ability to assess and analyse the financial appraisal and cash flow, considering the construction method, strategy, and type to ensure the right lenders are approached. They will then need to collate all the relevant information and documents a lender needs to make an initial decision. Again, it is crucial that the repayment method at the end of the term has been considered and verified through either sales evidence or commercial finance.

It is certainly a great time for advisers to widen their knowledge into the specialist finance sector, as long as they take the time to learn the intricacies this sector has.

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Feature

Education for the masses Michael Lloyd considers if the time is right for brokers to start improving their bridging know how

E

ducation has been widely spoken about in the bridging market. But what exactly is out there to help residential brokers take the leap into bridging finance, and should the sector be doing more to educate brokers?

In any business diversifying into another area could be a sensible leap forward however it comes with risks.

Some residential brokers avoid bridging whilst others see the sector as a lucrative area with better returns.

Michael Lloyd investigates why now could prove to be the perfect time to do so, where brokers should go to start and what the industry offers for support and whether more should be offered.

Why now could be the perfect time to diversify

Hometrack’s March edition of the UK Cities House Price Index revealed city house price inflation has

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MAY 2019

slowed to 1.7%, the weakest growth since May 2012.

Meanwhile, the bridging market has continued to grow with figures from The Association of Short Term lenders (ASTL) showing that last year the quantity of loans increased by 14.8% year-on-year.

James Bloom, managing director of short-term lending at Masthaven Bank, argues that as the bridging sector continues to increase despite a sluggish housing market; now could be the perfect time for residential brokers to diversify into bridging.

“Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, the bridging sector is showing strong growth and is quickly becoming a strong contender in the mainstream market,” Bloom says.

“The best brokers are diverse, time-sensitive and flexible, and are always looking to add more products to their proposition so that they can assist www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

Feature

as many borrowers as possible.”

Similarly Roger Morris, sales director at Precise Mortgages believes that with resi purchases at a low there is an opportunity for brokers to diversify and grow.

“That’s why specialism is growing and, in the future, will become the norm,” he says. “One reason there’s more activity in bridging is more brokers are upskilling.

You couldn’t get a better time. Consumers are driving for change and looking for specialist lenders.”

Mark Posniak, managing director of Octane Capital, agrees by arguing that brokers don’t have to become experts in the area as there are many packagers and master brokers that will do the heavy lifting. Posniak adds that brokers can be helped by a good lender “holding their hand” throughout the process.

“It’s another string to your bow, a value-add for your brand proposition and, last but not least, can significantly boost your income,” he adds.

D’Mitri Zaprzala, head of sales at Octopus Property, believes it’s always a good time to diversify into bridging and recognise the opportunities it presents.

However Chris Whitney, head of specialist lending at Enness Private Clients, warns that those who want to diversify into the sector need to know what they’re doing first.

Whitney says: “If that individual has the financial acumen, understands the market, and can be relied upon to give the best advice then of course they have the capabilities to diversify “But otherwise what value are they giving to their

client and at worst what damage might they be doing?”

The importance of education

The widely held view of the industry is that education is of the upmost importance to help brokers.

Payam Azadi, director of brokerage Niche Advice, says brokers should be constantly educating themselves and reckons the same rules where brokers have to pick up CPD points for protection and mortgages should apply with bridging because it’s a sector that’s always changing.

“Education for brokers around bridging is pivotal to the development of the sector, as well as for the next generation of brokers coming through,” Mark Dyason, managing director at Thistle Finance, says.

“I would urge all brokers looking to enter the bridging sector to attend as many events as they can These events also offer a superb platform for networking opportunities and for brokers to build their bridging contacts book.”

Michael Strange, managing director and founder at Funding 365, highlights how important it is that brokers understand their regulatory responsibilities first and foremost.

“Most of the key broker industry bodies offer very comprehensive training in this respect,” he says.

Whitney believes education is very important, but the onus is very much on the broker to go out and gather the information.

“Education is becoming much more relevant as the industry becomes increasingly important to the  rest of

Bridging could offer the opportunity brokers are looking for The bridging market represents an excellent opportunity for brokers who want to diversify their business in order to offer their clients a greater array of lending solutions and become more closely involved in a growing sector of the market.

For brokers and their clients, this opportunity comes from both increased demand for bridging and greater supply from lenders, as well as more competitive pricing of products.

On the demand side, short-term finance provides an excellent tool, particularly in the current environment, as it can offer the flexibility that people need to bridge the immediate uncertainty before moving onto longer-term solutions. The certainty of funding and quick

Benson Hersch chief executive, Association of Short Term Lenders

responses that can be provided by bridging lending also makes it an important part of a broker’s armoury as it can enable investors to move quickly to make the most of an opportunity. Following tax and regulatory changes to buy-to-let in recent years, more landlords are receptive to alternative types of investment opportunity such as property refurbishment or purchasing property for resale after cosmetic improvement at auction, and so the demand for bridging continues to grow.

In addition, the bridging sector is a vital source of funding for small and medium sized businesses, for which cashflow will be crucial throughout the ongoing Brexit process and for which the ability to access

funding on fair and flexible terms will be important.

This demand is driving growth in the market and members of the ASTL reported a 15% increase in lending last year compared to 2017. It is also attracting more lenders to the sector and, with a growing number of lenders operating in a competitive environment, brokers and their clients can benefit from access to good rates, flexible criteria and product innovation.

With the property market continuing to be subdued and UK Finance predicting remortgage business to tail off after next year, there is little for brokers to get excited about in the term mortgage market at the moment, but bridging could offer the opportunity they are looking for. 

www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

MAY 2019

BRIDGING INTRODUCER

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Feature

BRIDGING

March 2019

£5.00

INTRODUCER

Educating brokers www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

Champion of the Bridging Professional

multi-unit opportunities, as well Changes to mortgage interest as the alternative borrowing tax relief, the introduction of the solutions offered by bridging stamp duty surcharge, stricter finance and second charge underwriting standards for loans. portfolio landlords, the It’s never been more important scrapping of Section 21 for brokers to make sure they’re ‘no-fault’ evictions, and new equipped with the knowledge rules for HMO properties – the Roger Morris they need to help them navigate last few years have certainly sales director, the changing landscape. been tough for landlords.

Precise Fortunately, Precise Mortgages As well as a raft of new rules Mortgages recognises the importance of and regulations, there’s been a making sure brokers have the rise in the number of customers information they need. As the with complex borrowing needs, UK’s number one specialist such as the self-employed or lender, we’re dedicated to those with a less than perfect educating brokers. credit profile. There’s also been We travel the length and an increase in the number of breadth of the UK holding regular people looking to run their workshops which are designed buy-to-let business as Roger a limited Morris on identifying relevant opportunities to show how specialist lenders, company or looking to explore like Precise Mortgages, can help new HMO, holiday let and

A Precise outcome

BRIDGING IN-DEPTH

INDUSTRY COMMENT

PROBLEM CASES

the marketplace,” Terry Pritchard, chief executive of corporate finance and due diligence house Charter HCP, adds.

“This, therefore, increases the importance of education. However, who and how it is funded is the question that needs answering.”

How to upskill

Many in the industry believe that diversifying into bridging is almost a natural progression for residential brokers that do a lot of buy-to-let cases.

Michael Clapper, executive chairman at Black Book Finance, points to the common example of investors taking a bridge to acquire a property, completing works onto it and then refinance onto a buy-to-let, achieving rental income.

“I’d be surprised if active buy-to-let brokers are not already dealing with bridging finance too, particularly now that so many landlords are refurbishing or converting into HMOs, given the recent and ongoing changes in buy-to-let taxation. Buy-to-let and bridging go hand in hand.” Mark Posniak says.

Payam Azadi was one such residential broker writing a lot of buy-to-let cases, so this was his first introduction to bridging. He spoke to various lenders to place his first bridge, around seven or eight years ago.

However, Mike Strange doesn’t believe it’s a natural progression, arguing that the work required to understand and package a bridging opportunity is fundamentally different to that required for a buy-to-let mortgage.

“That said, I do believe that there are most certainly synergies between the two which brokers

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ROUND-TABLE

brokers get their customers the products they need. Our workshops can help brokers to grow their business and could make the difference between placing a case or missing out on new business.

Over the last three decades I have amassed a wealth of industry experience, not just in the lender community, but also as managing director of my own packager business and as a successful landlord and developer.

This knowledge and understanding has left me perfectly placed to be able to educate brokers at workshops and roadshows to help them to understand how specialist lending can help their customers.

could capitalise upon,” Strange adds.

Meanwhile, Chris Whitney believes it’s definitely a good place to start in the sector and progress from there because buy-to-let lenders will offer bridging products that will be familiar to them and easily understood.

“Don’t try and run before you can walk,” Whitney advises.

In terms of how brokers can diversify, Harriet Smith, head of bridging at Crystal Specialist Finance, encourages brokers to attend workshops and roundtables, to read emails and updates that are sent out, and to attend trade shows.

“From our viewpoint educated and engaged brokers spot the opportunities and help more clients,” Smith says.

Azadi also recommends upskilling into bridging and advises brokers to firstly call a bridging lender, and meet their BDMs, asking questions and discovering more about them and where they sit in the market. Then recommends to register for a raft of roadshows and magazines like this to find out more about upcoming events.

Brokers can either stay on top of the differing criteria from different lenders or learn to spot bridging opportunities and refer them on to a master broker or packager and still earn a fee.

Benson Hersch, chief executive of the ASTL, warns that bridging isn’t an area for brokers who just want to dip their toes into this growing market. He says those committed should make use of BDMs and perhaps partner with experts in the field.

“Once brokers understand the ways they can use short-term finance they will identify more situations  www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

Feature

where it is the most appropriate funding model,” he says.

Roger Morris says brokers first need a training plan to be able to bring their knowledge up to date and become competent in the sector, which for example could be by showing information about bridging on their website, to increase customer confidence.

“Education is like peeling an onion, you peel one and think you’ve got it but then there’s another layer,” Morris says. “It takes a few years to become very competent in bridging.”

Gareth Lewis, commercial director at MT Finance, says a good broker should already have the skillset to be able to look at bridging as an option for their client, arguing that bridging is a common sense approach to a transaction, understanding what the transaction is, and why bridging is appropriate.

Michael Clapper adds that publications such as Bridging Introducer provide a great insight to the market and its developments, but most bridging lenders are more than happy to educate.

“Bridging is a little bit like chess though – it takes minutes to learn the basics, but years to master the nuances,” he says. “If a broker determines to educate themselves, there are plenty of ways to do so, but it all takes time, and that’s where distributors can assist.”

The education that is available

From roadshows to webinars, education is all around.

There is various support from clubs, networks, trade bodies, associations and some lenders.

Roger Morris is known for his bridging workshops, conducting about 200 educational based events a year, 95% of which are for members of networks and clubs.

Precise’s underwriters answer the phones and guide brokers through the process whilst Morris and his team visit companies in their offices, or host them at theirs, explaining the basics of bridging and how to spot it.

“People want education and it’s education about the process, not the lender,” Morris says. “After my course, once a broker has done their first bridge they’ll be shouting down the phone with excitement, saying how easy it was.

“The best feedback is when the broker then goes and does bridging themselves, building their own portfolio.”

Masthaven attends a number of roadshows and associated events to contribute to debates, with the aim of communicating bridging to brokers as well as ensuring its underwriters are visible and available.

Octane Capital run regular workshops, roadshows and seminars around the country for brokers.

“I think what’s really important is that you show brokers real-life examples of where a bridge has helped a client achieve such and such,” Mark Posniak says.

“That makes it less abstract and far easier to grasp.”

John Hardman, head of sales at Bridging Finance Solutions (BFS), says that as well as attending expos, BFS helps a number of first-time brokers enter the market by providing hands on assistance from the

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beginning to the end of the bridging or development transaction. Crystal Specialist Finance educates brokers with real life scenarios in various different ways, including network training events, roundtables and its podcasts called ‘CrystalCast’.

Funding 365 conducts one-on-one sessions where it walks brokers through issues they need to be aware of when considering bridging loan applications and Mike Strange says the Financial Intermediary and Broker Association (FIBA) offers extensive resources to educate brokers on the requirements and best practices of being involved in the bridging market.

Adam Tyler, executive chairman of FIBA, says both lenders on its panel and its more experienced members are committed to talking through cases and helping first-time bridging brokers.

“As a trade body, FIBA is seeing different brokers entering the sector and our commitment to helping them and all of our members develop their businesses and education is a primary consideration,” Tyler says.

MFS regularly takes part in expos, roadshows and events across the country, and is launching an education series on bridging finance for auction purchases.

Bridge Invest educates brokers on a piecemeal basis, and one of its business development managers, Will Matterson, praises associations such as the NACFB for doing a good job in educating brokers and holding networking events.

One of the Association of Short Term Lenders’ (ASTL) key objectives is to build the reputation of the bridging market. It publishes market research and meets regularly with broker associations such as the NACFB and FIBA; also attending events such as its annual conference.

As well as having an in-house team to offer support over the phone, specialist packager distributor Complete FS holds regular regional forums and has a beginners guide to bridging on its website, which director Phil Jay says has proved popular.

Rob Jupp, chief executive officer of specialist distributor Brightstar, explains how they do collaborative roadshows and workshops with lenders like Precise due to the fact that there is “an awful lot of information but it’s all in different places”.

Terry Pritchard says that at Charter HCP he has employed someone who is currently collating information for a training programme on all aspects of ‘specialist asset finance’ and has gained a grant from the Education Committee, all of which will be devoted to this programme.

Furthermore, Apex Bridging has enlisted Alan and Mel Dring of The Mad Approach as consultants to support its education programme which it will be rolling out over the next six months.

Is there enough education or is more needed?

Mike Strange says there are plenty of resources available to brokers who have the desire to enter the sector with much of the education coming from being involved in  www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

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Feature

There’s always room for quality lenders The bridging market has almost got to a place where it is no longer an optional extra. For about a decade now bridging has been about so much more than just buying at auction or helping people to buy one property before their last one is sold. Of course, those uses are still valid but there are now so many more.

For developers bridging is often their funding of choice either to refurbish an existing property, or for ground up development.

Others use it at the end of a development loan to give themselves a bit more time to finish landscaping perhaps and market their new properties in order to get the best possible price.

Even businesses use bridging now, secured against premises, as a quick source of funding to help them capitalise on a deal or even buy stock.

Brokers who aren’t aware of

Jonathan Sealey chief executive, Hope Capital

the business and learning on the job.

Andre Bartlett, director at Capital B Property Finance, believes that the onus should be on the brokers to get involved with bridging.

“I think there’s enough education and events out there if you want to get involved and learn,” Bartlett says.

Payam Azadi believes brokers should always be learning and Roger Morris goes one further discussing how there is enough education out there, which brokers should utlise and spend a percentage of their working week dedicated to upskilling and education.

“We are seeing an increase in event attendance,” Morris explains. “Industry professionals are starting to realise the need and value of this training.”

However, some were critical of the education on offer, such as Terry Pritchard who says networks and distributors as a whole offer the product but with very limited training. This is an explanation as to why, he says, there are often cases of mis-selling and poor advice based on the lack of understanding.

“The ASTL as I am told have no process or plans for education, however, this may have changed since my last conversation,” he says. “The FIBA, however, have a much more pro-active view and I will speak to them soon about our own programme.” www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

15:01

what bridging can offer their clients may well be missing out on opportunities to help them.

Some brokers may be held back by old beliefs about bridging being too expensive or by stories of bridging lenders of yesteryear, but many of those beliefs no longer hold true.

Rates have fallen dramatically over the past few years and are now considerably lower than they used to be.

Of course, there are a range of bridging lenders who offer different types of loans at different rates. Some are more automated and therefore offer lower rates as there is less human interaction Others, such as Hope Capital, look at every case on an individual, bespoke basis, often granting loans on more unusual property or in more unusual circumstances, always turning it around rapidly and offering a personal service.

For brokers new to bridging, pick up the phone to a lender

such as Hope Capital and you’ll find BDMs and underwriters will be happy to talk through the situation with the client, what they are looking for, what information they need and how quickly that can be turned around, talking the broker through each step of the process.

A key thing to look out for is to make sure that the interest rates and charges of whatever lender you use are clear and transparent, as is the way that interest is calculated.

This is not only good practice, but it makes it easier for the broker to understand what is on offer and to explain it to their client.

Bridging is increasingly mainstream but offers a level of service not often seen with more mainstream lenders. The reasons to get involved are to provide your clients with solutions that include quick, bespoke finance for a variety of uses, all secured on property.

Pritchard goes on to say trade bodies, networks, and lenders should do more to help educate brokers and get involved with bridging, but firstly brokers need to get formal licensing to do the job.

“Many people are losing out because their advisers are ignorant of the uses of specialist finance across the board,” Pritchard adds.

Furthermore, Sonia Shortland, director at Apex Bridging, is critical of many roadshows and workshops, saying not enough research is done to ensure the right brokers are there to meet the right lenders, surveyors, solicitors and developers.

“All too often it is about numbers and not the content and needs of the attendees,” she says.

“It’s about what the people who attended wanted to learn and if they came away having learned it or not,” Alan Dring, director of The MAD Approach, adds.

Shortland goes on to explain that the situation with education has improved and there has been an improvement in the way trade bodies have designed their education programmes.

“When we roll out our programme, we are determined it will be written by all stakeholder parties and not just the sponsors of the event,” she says. “There is always more we can do to improve the attractiveness of the specialist lending sector. It is through  MAY 2019

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Feature

Understanding the importance of education in the bridging market Over the past decade, there has been a noticeable spike in enquiries from brokers interested in bridging loans.

Unlike high street banks and traditional lenders, specialist finance providers have listened to the concerns of the market and developed innovative products that cater to the fast finance needs of professional property investors.

Here at Market Financial Solutions (MFS), a large number of the cases we handle concern buy-to-let investments. This makes perfect sense – bridging finance is naturally geared to support investors who already own a real estate asset and wish to leverage it as a security so they can expand their portfolio.

For brokers unfamiliar with the bridging market, finding the right lender and product for their clients can seem like an overwhelming task. The number

Paresh Raja, chief executive, Market Financial Solutions

collaboration that progress is seen to be made and the trade bodies and networks are here for that purpose.”

Should there be a bridging qualification?

As well as education, some have also called for a bridging qualification to raise industry standards.

Rob Jupp is a strong advocate for this and argues that the only way to be confident that advisers have the appropriate knowledge with bridging is to study and pass a test for a qualification.

“At the moment firms don’t need to upscale their knowledge to prove the quality of the advice is correct,” he says. “We get too many customers come to us when they’re in the middle of a difficult experience with a bridging loan due to poor advice. It’s easy to get a syllabus together.

“That would mean more customers would get better quality advice and better outcomes which everyone should aspire to. You wouldn’t pass for the qualification without knowledge and education, so all roads lead to this.”

Will Matterson says a qualification could help educate brokers on the risk and potential ramifications of high interest products.

“This could work as an extension to CeMAP, however, I think we would need more collaboration between the existing trade bodies in our industry,” Ashley Illsen, chief executive and founder of Magnet Capital, says.

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of new lenders entering the market is rising, while understanding the nuances of different products can be difficult to those not well versed in bridging loans. Education is, therefore, vitally important.

One thing brokers need to be doing is taking note of the latest industry trends, and educating themselves on the current products on the market to make sure they can deliver the best possible solutions to their clients.

They also need to know which circumstances bridging loans are suited to.

At MFS, we take great pride in ensuring our brokers and borrowers have access to the latest market insights by commissioning regular quantitative research reports to gauge the latest industry trends.

Complementing our market research, we also run education initiatives on topics we know our brokers are keen to know more

about. For example, at the beginning of the year we ran an education series titled ‘Bridging 101: An introduction to bridging loans’.

Addressing some of the most common questions we receive from brokers, this series of educational emails and reports generated a huge amount of interest and showed just how important education is when it comes to understanding the bridging market in depth.

Following the success of Bridging 101, we are now running a similar initiative on auctions and bridging finance.

Ultimately, I believe it is the duty of lenders to provide brokers with the resources they need to support their respective clientele.

Doing so will also encourage better practices across the entire bridging industry and ensure short-term finance is regarded a safe, responsible option for property investors.

However, having sat the original CeMAP and also three parts of the Financial Planning Certificate, Hardman is unsure there’s enough technical aspects to bridging alone to warrant an entirely separate qualification.

“There are many diploma/degree level courses in credit, finance and banking, within which elements of short-term loans will no doubt be covered,” he says.

Mark Posniak thinks a qualification could be a good idea, for brokers to show they’ve passed an exam, displaying a level of expertise in the sector but believes it shouldn’t be mandatory, especially for unregulated loans.

“It’s in the interest of everyone involved in the bridging industry that its image is continually improved and that consumer confidence in the sector grows, so adding some form of bridging qualification could help achieve that,” he says.

“I think a general guide into getting into bridging is a good idea, whether a full-blown qualification you have to take is the way to go, I’m not sure,” Payam Azadi adds.

Some call for more education and some a bridging qualification, but a widely held view is that brokers need to have the initiative and willpower to go out there and seek support.

Roger Morris says: “Specialism will become the norm in the future and now is the time to invest in your business by educating and upskilling.”  www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

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Comment

Brexit and exit Challenges, challenges, challenges

The Brexit impasse continues to challenge the market, according to the latest RICS UK Residential Survey, and while a no-deal exit is looking increasingly improbable, the extension of the withdrawal deadline is likely to draw out the current blockage in the property market.

RICS says that new buyer enquiries fell by 27% in March, marking the eighth successive negative monthly reading.

Alongside this, the average time taken for a residential property to sell, from listing to completion, remained the joint longest since this series was introduced in 2017, at 19 weeks.

The South East continues to exhibit the most protracted duration, up at 21.5 weeks on average, which is approaching six months.

The RICS report anticipates that transaction volumes will dwindle further through to July but says there is a little more optimism beyond then, with sales expected

www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

09:32

to rise over the coming 12 months.

This forecast was, however, predicated on an earlier resolution to Brexit than is now the case and so it may be some time before we seen a discernible improvement in property transactions.

There is more positive news in the lettings market, with tenant demand continuing to rise for a third successive month and anticipated rental growth of approximately 2% over the coming 12 months.

RICS predicts that over the next five years, the imbalance between supply and demand is expected to lead to an acceleration in rental growth, which is seen averaging around 3%, per annum through to 2024.

In this environment, where properties can take an average of six months to sell, establishing a realistic exit strategy becomes even more important in the placement of a bridging loan.

If a quick sale is the only strategy,

Benson Hersch chief executive, ASTL

the client could come unstuck, so it is prudent to have a plan B. If the property cannot be reliably sold at an anticipated value, is it an appropriate purchase for buy-to-let?

Whereas the sales market is stagnant, there is growing demand for rental properties and upward pressure on rental growth.

Retaining an asset for rental income may not be a client’s favoured exit but having this an option can at least provide an alternative route if a sale proves unsuccessful. One does, of course, have to consider the tax implications for Consumer Landlords.

When it comes to bridging the exit is always critical. In an environment that is so heavily dominated

by Brexit and the uncertainty that comes with it, this focus is magnified.

It is therefore hugely important that lenders have robust underwriting policies and practices in place and that brokers are mindful to investigating multiple exit strategies.

These strategies will be informed by both a client’s circumstances and current market conditions, so it’s important to be able to access upto-date competitive intelligence and market analysis.

The provision of this information is one of the key drivers behind our speaker schedule for the annual ASTL conference.

The event takes place in November and we are busy putting together and building a comprehensive content programme.

Brexit means you need think harder about the exit on a bridging loan, so lenders and brokers should make sure that they consider alternative strategies and that they have access to the information that is needed to enure that ythey can make educated your decisions.

MAY 2019

BRIDGING INTRODUCER

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An ‘exemplary’ report NACFB’s governance labelled as ‘exemplary’ by independent auditor

The NACFB is passionate about helping to protect our Member’s businesses and one way we do this is reviewing brokerages by benchmarking them against our Minimum Standards. But how do you know that we ourselves are running a tight ship? Financially we have our annual audit, this has recently been signed off having received a clean report. But in addition to this, we have sought assurance from a firm of independent external consultants, Rockstead, who specialise in internal audit support. Our brief to them was to analyse and test our policies and procedures and view the Association’s operation through a number of different lenses to make sure our house is in order.

The Rockstead team embedded themselves at our head office and explored the processes, documentation and cultures that we operate

under. Their findings championed the Association’s high standards of leadership, corporate governance processes, systems and controls.

The good news is that the NACFB passed with flying colours which provides us, as well as our members and patrons, with the confidence that we continue to build the Association on solid foundations.

Paul Goodman, our NACFB chair, said: “We are very proud to have received much more than just a clean bill of health.

“This is testament to all of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes at the Association from the team at Eastcheap and the Board of Directors.”

Graham Toy, NACFB CEO, added: “We encouraged Rockstead to leave no stone unturned. Such levels of transparency – coupled with our independent non-profit

Norman Chambers managing director, NACFB

status – should leave our stakeholders with no doubt that we are the professional body of choice for all commercial finance brokers and lenders.”

Following the review, the Rockstead team provided a report from which the below comments have been extracted:  We consider that it [the NACFB] demonstrates high standards of leadership and a progressive corporate culture.  In our opinion corporate governance processes are exemplary.

Appropriate, proportionate policies are in place to underpin operational and regulatory requirements. These in turn are broadly supported by effective systems and controls which ensure that these are complied with.  We would consider these arrangements to be completer and more thorough than other organisations of a similar size and business function.

Established in 2008, Rockstead is an independent asset, business and process review company.

Rockstead are recognised as the leading provider, with the longest history, in due diligence services throughout Europe.

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Comment

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MAY 2019

BRIDGING INTRODUCER

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Round-table

Our experts discuss the state of the market, the difficulties of recruitment and the state of P2P

Bridging and beyond Ryan Fowler: How do you view the bridging market in the short-term? Will growth be flat because of the general economic uncertainty or is there opportunity for growth?

Gareth Lewis: There is uncertainty which has a knock-on effect on our sector, but the signs are relatively positive. From what I can see in terms of transactional enquires coming through and the volume of applications coming through, the market isn’t on a downward spiral. Whether you’ll see a huge amount of growth is yet to be determined. Figures can be misconstrued when you look at total lending in this space but it’s relatively positive given Brexit uncertainty.

Terry Pritchard: I’ve found it’s been very busy but there is a lot of people with unrealistic applications and expectations. There is a realignment of valuations with a lot of people still looking on the positive side where that sits.

GL: Is that unrealistic or is it just that no-one knows?

TP: You’re probably right. There has been a drop in value in places, particularly around London, Central London and the outskirts. I think there has been less of a drop in other parts of the country. I still get lots of applications from people that when you talk to them in more detail, they are actually 85% lending when it comes down to it. It is a busy market, but not in regards to completions at the moment.

Gavin Diamond: I’d agree with what you are saying about completions, I think it takes a lot longer to get deals over the line. Lots of enquiries are coming through, so people are paying for valuations and getting solicitors instructed, but it’s actually getting people to tick all the boxes and get the money drawn.

I don’t know whether people are sitting on their hands knowing they have the funding in place and adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach, or whether they are trying

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to renegotiate before they actually complete. There is activity but also a lengthening of the period between offer and drawdown.

Jonathan Newman: Completion times have lengthened. Across the board the activity is significantly higher and we’ve seen an increase in completions over the last three months.

GL: Last month we had our greatest number of actual units complete, so completions are there. But you are right about the time to complete.

JN: It is hard to understand the reasoning behind this because the processes are much more sophisticated and slicker than they used to be. So, what is the reason for the delay? It is not at the lawyer or lender end so it must be at the borrower end.

Sonia Shortland: We are finding our borrowers are renegotiating and then renegotiating again as they are not confident enough to go through with the completion. We do a small amount of development and all of our developers are pushing back from doing the bigger properties and doing two-bed, three bed starter homes which people have a need to buy.

Sam Howard: I agree. On the smaller end of the value spectrum for proc fee, there is still this demand

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Round-table

Arthur Cole-Fontayn, Aspen Bridging; Benson Hersch, ASTL; Simon Chapman, Lendco; Brian West, Central Bridging; Gavin Diamond, United Trust Bank; Sonia Shortland, Apex Bridging; Gareth Lewis, MT Finance; Tony Sutton, Specialist Finance Solutions; Sam Howard, Magnet Capital; Terry Pritchard, Charter HCP; Damien Druce, Assetz Capital; Jonathan Newman, Brightstone Law

and choices out there and people are using that to their advantage to find the right deal once they’ve agreed a deal, if they ever get to agree it. This is the right time to negotiate on price because of the uncertainty out there.

RF: There are challenges to growing the book and one of the main ones is access to talent and getting the right people involved. Are any of you recruiting at the moment?

for developers. We are getting applications but business cases tend to be slightly wild in terms of end values and GDPs; we are seeing build costs rise substantially. We’re factoring in an increase in costs and decrease values, so we’re being more careful.

GL: On the development side are you finding the clients are evaluating whether they’ll retain the properties? If they are a smaller developer, are they looking at them as an opportunity to refinance on the back end rather than sell?

SH: The end sales part is taking much longer, they are now looking at holding them.

SS: My developers are doing more part-exchange now as well.

Tony Sutton: We are finding the market very buoyant at the moment. We are seeing a lot of regulated bridging come through, more people downsizing and more moving abroad.

Simon Chapman: We are seeing a lot of borrowers going back on transactions and trying to renegotiate prices. There is a lot of sitting on hands, waiting, going back, ticking the deal and then going back again. And in that process they are sourcing various offers of finance as well. There are so many options

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TS: We are trying to recruit but the money expected is huge. We are also seeing a lot of brokerages have increased the notice periods of their staff to up to six months, so you have to wait six months to take someone on. Who wants that? It’s difficult to get the right calibre of people and also people who want to stay.

TP: We’ve had a lot of people who’ve applied and as we’ve gone through the process, they want higher wages because they’ve seen the demand for experienced people. At the moment, I’m trying to hire three underwriters and a salesperson. The quality across the desk has been really poor If you want to make it work you need some experienced staff, particularly in development finance.

GL: This is something that’s been around for quite some time in the industry with it being such a small sector in comparison to the mortgage market.

TP: I’d say it’s got worse.

GL: Yeah it probably has, and people are demanding higher salaries now.

TP: I’ve seen the salary of pure bridging underwriters range from £40,000 to £100,000.

Damien Druce: There are a lot of people out there but you’ll probably get ex-bankers and it’s whether

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Round-table

they fit into your business and have the right skillset and appetite. People do move a lot more frequently than they did previously so if you have the right offering, brand and growth plans you should be able to sell your business.

SH: We’ve always taken the approach of getting people from outside and training them up. But it’s not a quick fix and you run risks.

SS: We have quite a young underwriting team and we’re looking to recruit someone more experienced.

This is proving challenging because we’re sat in the middle of the country and to get someone to come from London or Manchester, they’ll be demanding a higher salary.

GL: It depends what you are after. You have to invest in people.

SS: It gives you the confidence when you’ve trained an employee yourself and taught them in the way you’re comfortable with, so they feel as precious about the money as you do.

SH: In a world with little loyalty, it gives more loyalty than someone who has just been to numerous places previously.

Benson Hersch: You have to trust your experienced staff to train people. As long as you have some people you trust and have been there a while, it may

be better to bring in someone who knows nothing and train them in the way you want to be. I think that is the only solution.

GD: Some of our best successes internally are exactly what Benson said, but you might not see it externally. We have taken in people from other teams within the bank, for example from our deposit team.

They start as a lone admin and work together with an underwriter, learn the process from start to finish and sit besides the servicing guys to do some of the work.

This means that when it is time for you to add a new underwriter to your team, they are perfectly placed and can come in as a junior underwriter. They have learned the system, your processes, and the risks.

They know something from start to finish.

RF: I understand but I’d argue from the press side it’s not something you’d publicise. Taking Owen Bentley from Precise is a headline in the trade press but one guy transferring from a junior position in UTB isn’t as exciting news.

Brian West: I also used to promote underwriters using the progression you outlined, in the sense of sticking them into a hybrid role in the sales team, liaising directly with underwriters. However from a sales perspective, this is quite a challenge because you are managing expectations from the sales team and brokers whilst balancing all of that against underwriting.

Arthur Cole-Fontayn: I think one avenue for human capital is graduates from university. The bridging industry and specialist finance market as a whole isn’t very well presented to graduates at all, so they are looking at more mainstream jobs and not necessarily bridging or development finance. I think perhaps that’s something to explore. People could go to universities and train graduates.

GL: Some of the big successes are people who didn’t go to university as well, so you can’t pigeon hole.

“It gives you the confidence when you’ve trained an employee yourself” Sonia Shortland

TP: At Edeus, we had a graduate scheme and there was a 100% failure rate of people being taken on afterwards. Meanwhile for those who didn’t go to university, about 80% stayed with the business and grew with it and many are still at Precise now. I think you’d find graduates use it as a stepping stone into work and then move on from there. They weren’t

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failing at the jobs. They were slower at learning because their brains worked in a different way. They just left to go somewhere they wanted to go to originally that they couldn’t get into but now could with that experience. So, a lot of the people I’ve seen that have been successful, especially in this market, are those who haven’t gone to university.

SS: I think whilst the industry is known very little and sits under the radar, people aren’t going to be excited about getting a job with us. People that leave school and university go to work for a mainstream bank.

DD: The problem is when people go to banks young they tend to stay there. It’s one of the few jobs for life.

Bank staff leave with a huge payout and probably don’t have that appetite to go again.

“Some of the big successes are people who didn’t go to university” Gareth Lewis

TS: Quite often graduates leave university and have never used a landline phone before.

JN: I tell everyone in the office to pick up the phone and the best underwriters we work with on the property side are the ones who pick up the phone.

You can get so much more done on the telephone than by email. On email, you can misread the tone or not get everything you wanted.

TP: And you can get into arguments because something comes across as rude when you didn’t mean it to be.

RF: Could the market be set for firm mergers as lenders look to other options for growth?

DD: The Precise merger was what the doctor ordered. We need more of them. There are too many lenders. Where are they all coming from? We don’t need them all.

GL: Regardless of that whilst there’s so much liquidity about and people still see there’s an attractive margin to be made; especially when the broker pool will look to entertain new entrants. If there was no appetite for brokers and clients to go down a new lender route because they weren’t comfortable with it, you’d see a different story.

DD: I don’t have a problem with competition because we don’t have just one product. I am not bothered by new entrants, but I’d like to see more consolidation.

That Precise/One Savings Bank merger ticks many boxes. I’d expect to see more strategic consolidations.

RF: Are you not worried having larger lenders in this space will take away the ability to move quick?

GL: But you’ll still have the ability for the perceived smaller lenders to be fluid in their underwriting and decision making. Whilst the market has that need then these lenders will always have their place.

Lenders don’t move as quick as they grow. They have an agenda and lender policy they won’t deviate from and those with an ability to truly stress test every transaction will always have a place.

JN: I think every lender has experienced problems internally in scaling up this type of business. Once you start merging two different organisations, people, and policies isn’t it going to be even worse?

GL: I think with growth you still have to bear in mind how you built your business and not to lose sight of that. As soon as you try and become something else you’ll fall flat on your face.

DD: It’s an opportunity for growth, an opportunity for others. It’s interesting what Masthaven have done as they haven’t felt the need to merge or acquire, they just buy the talent and build the book so there’s other ways to grow too. It’s a good industry success story. 

kuflink.com Commercial

Development

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Auction

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Round-table

driven by problems. It’s about insolvency more than anything else and we see poor client experience at the end of the day.

SH: It’s the exception rather than the rule when it works well.

RF: Should bridging lenders look internationally and consider lending abroad?

“There are some very good P2P lenders” Tony Sutton Scaling your business up and bringing in your talent is the other argument.

GD: There’s several ways of doing it and if you’re going to merge, it depends what you’re seeking to achieve out of that merger. I understand it if you’re looking to go into a specialist market you’re not currently in. If you’re looking to do the same thing then what are you buying? If you want distribution in another region then you would get a BDM. It’s a difficult one. In the areas of the market where we’ve grown into - like mortgages and motor finance more recently - we’ve identified people, brought them in and allowed them to build the business from within.

You’re not dealing with any legacy issues, they’re experienced people. It depends what you’re looking to achieve. Having said that, I saw a about a report saying 24% of bridging lenders are considering an M&A style of transaction. I didn’t read the article but that seemed like a high number.

GL: The only way you’d do it is if you went down a different route like commercial or development and buying that resource. You run the risk of legacy issues from that business, but you wouldn’t want to buy something that’s exactly the same as you as that doesn’t make sense.

JN: In the legal world we’ve seen mergers for many years and it’s always presented as ‘we’re providing a new tool of talent and clients have more to choose from’, but in reality most of the mergers have been

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TP: Half of our lending is in Europe, we don’t do so much over here because we deal with a lot of foreign funders and their appetite is for Europe. We’ve just completed a loan for the purchase of a hotel group in South Africa. We’re not juristically challenged, we can deal wherever we want if we give them a deal that makes commercial sense and covers all those areas.

Not knowing what was going on with Brexit two years ago I spent a lot of time looking elsewhere and trying to fund deals elsewhere because I was worried about what might happen here. I’m not the only one.

We have the ability to probably move a bit quicker on deals because we’re small. Over 50% of our lending this year and last year has been abroad and it’s a great way of expanding your business.

But you must know someone in each country well otherwise your money will disappear.

GD: Undoubtedly that’s the biggest challenge, wherever you lend to understand the market you’re lending in.

DD: Not all the lenders even look at the country as a whole. We’re looking at Southern Ireland as our next geographical territory because we do Northern Ireland very well. So, if it’s about growth you can also grow nationally.

RF: We’ve seen another peer-to-peer platform launch. What’s your views on P2P at the moment?

TS: P2P lending scares me. Every piece of legislation we’ve had in this market is because of someone doing something wrong. The regulator goes moves forward to legislate and then they legislate it to the extreme where it affects every part.

DD: The next time this market depresses and contracts you’ll be running to the P2P lenders. They were born out of the last recession. There is this

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Round-table

ridiculous negative preconception about it. It’s just lending, how we raise the capital is different. If anything, our credit risk processes are far more stringent than others.

us. They hadn’t instructed the valuation and the staff couldn’t instruct one. Bridging is meant to be quick.

TP: The FCA are putting out a review document the summer which will harm some of the P2P lenders.

DD: The problem is that there doesn’t appear to be a middle ground. There are some very good lenders and some very poor ones. Unfortunately there are some that don’t even have a P2P license. If you don’t know what you’re doing as an investor then potentially yes, your capital is at risk. But a lot are now securing with property assets so there’s recourse for the investor. We have a provision fund which protects people investing automatically. If you invest manually there is no provision fund. P2P is not going anywhere, it just might change a little bit. We call ourselves a marketplace lender now because our investors are family offices, institutions, and retail cash so we’re not purely P2P anymore which the FCA needs to understand.

JN: If you’re concerned about some poor practices what should a good quality P2P lender do about it?

DD: We can only look at our own house not what others do. We can just continue to ensure we’re stringent. We have an initial credit sanction and a second sanction, so two underwriters if you like, on the loan. There is also the visiting of security and meeting the borrower. We do all these things. It’s very bank like.

DD: There have been other stories of people in bridging loan situations with a P2P lender, going all the way down the process, incurring costs and attaining a legal date for completion and the lender won’t release the funds because they haven’t sold the units in the loan. That is poor P2P practice. We don’t have that problem. We have a Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) where we can access the cash whilst we sell the loan on the aftermarket.

TP: Quality and security with some P2P lenders is poor.

BW: Unfortunately, it’s the bad ones who damage the reputation, not just with P2P lenders, but in the whole bridging sector.

SS: Isn’t it the same in all industries when there’s a disappointing product apart from the more efficient ones?

BW: As and when a P2P lender goes under, you have the Northern Rock situation from 2008 repeating itself. Rather than queues around the block, you’ll have thousands of disgruntled sophisticated investors who didn’t know what they were getting involved in.

DD: P2P lenders are licensed and they jump through a lot of hoops to get that regulated status. Where does the buck really stop? 

TP: You’re run by people that are former bankers, so they have different process than a lot of others do in the P2P market.

DD: We are but we’re all about trust and transparency. Our loan book is there for all to see.

You can go and read our credit reports. It’s very open and I think others need to be the same. It is a changing landscape. I just don’t think it’ll go away.

TS: It won’t go away. There are some very good P2P lenders. We deal with four or five P2P lenders that have been brilliant but the worst experiences I’ve had with bridging lenders have been with P2P lenders.

For example, in one instance we could only deal with the BDM who went on holiday and wasn’t replying to

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Cover

A measured approach Jessica Nangle caught up with Narinder Khattoare about the past 12 months at Kuflink and his take on the P2P and bridging industry The past 12 months have not been easy for lenders. With the ongoing Brexit debacle causing uncertainty, and scaremongering from both the media and industry leaders, it has been a testing time for lenders to continue their strive in excellent product offerings whilst maintaining service standards with a calm approach.

The bridging sector and P2P are both industries in the process of change, with new entrants appearing despite the instability who are attracted by the promise of encouraging margins and growth However, it takes industry stalwarts to continue to shine in a saturated market.

Some lenders pride themselves on competitive rates, whilst others pride themselves on an excellent customer service offering to stand out from the crowd, but according to Narinder Khattoare, chief executive at Kuflink, the lender places somewhere in the middle which arguably is the best place to be.

With a reputation of delivering, we spoke to Narinder about Kuflink’s place in the industry by reflecting on the past 12 months and what is on the agenda over the coming year which promises to be just as interesting as 2018.

Achieving the ‘WOW’ factor

“The past 12 months have been a

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little bit challenging,” Khattoare explains. “The market is becoming more saturated, LTVs are getting higher, and rates are coming down.

For us to get the right deals on the platform – which is FCA regulated – it is a challenge.”

This is a noble reflection from the chief executive, who does not shy away from accepting that the past year has been one with highs and lows.

The 40-strong staff at Kuflink have been hard at work making sure that their fintech platform is the best that it can be whilst also providing satisfactory investment relations which keeps all parties happy.

Kuflink have seen an “influx” of investors joining their platform despite the current climate, but they are not putting all of their eggs in one basket.

“Investors are not just deploying funds on our platform, they are going across different platforms which is great for the industry,” Khattoare explains.

But this is a lender with big plans over the coming months, particularly in regards to their already increasing investor traffic. “Our ambition is to drive further investor interest to our platform, from the High Net Worth (HNW) sophisticated investors to the retail ones.”

Despite having seen an influx of MAY 2019

retail investors on their platform over the past 12 months, Khattoare is keen to ensure that every type of investor is given a full-service offering.

Kuflink is keen to help those who are becoming increasingly frustrated with what their high street bank is offering, and he is keen to stress that their success is from the word of others.

“For us, the influx of investors seems to appear from word of mouth and the quality of the deals we provide,” Khattoare explains.

Stable and steady is the message that comes from Khattoare’s reflection, but key is perfecting their current offering. “I want it to be perfect so when someone comes in they can say WOW – whether that be a broker, investor or a media partner.

Anybody who walks through our door needs to have that experience.”

Education is key

Education within the industry is a subject that has been much discussed in Bridging Introducer’s roundtables, with key industry members debating whether there is a need for a qualification in the bridging sector to ensure widespread diligence and competency.

However Khattoare is keen to stress that the education debacle goes beyond that. “If you went to the average person on the high  www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

Narinder Khattoare, chief executive, Kuflink

Cover

street and talked to them about P2P lending, most wouldn’t know a great deal,” explains Khattoare.

“I believe that this is an industry ahead of its time, and in the future everyone will know about it – whether it is called P2P or marketplace lending.”

“P2P in particular has been a contentious industry, with many pointing out its potential flaws.

“Unfortunately, you see a lot of entrants in the P2P space who have no experience in this industry, but everyone tarnishes us with the same paint brush because they believe that all P2P lending is done on the same terms. It is not,” Khattoare argues.

“Not everyone is the same, there are a lot of experienced people in this industry and the same goes for bridging.”

The saying that the few ruin it for the many is a statement that rings true in P2P, as the professional lenders are fighting through hearsay to obtain trust, hence why word of mouth is arguably an important factor.

Kuflink’s way to look at potential investors is focussing on those behind the business, with Khattoare

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pointing out factors such as where they have come from, whether they understand the alternative lending arena and if they are able to underwrite and credit risk for a loan that goes on the platform.

But Khattoare believes everyone has to play their part. “Whenever somebody chooses to invest, I say that you have got to do your own due diligence,” Khattoare says.

“We have done as much as we can from the outset and can give as much information as possible on every loan, however it is down to the investor to complete their own due diligence processes, whether that be personally or through a financial adviser. This is key.”

New kids on the block

Recruitment in this industry has been commented on by various industry leaders, some saying how internal promotions are the way forward, whilst others lament on the difficulties of hiring fresh, new talent.

Khattoare has plans for expansion at Kuflink, particularly on the sales team in order to extend their presence across the country.

“Eventually we will need a sales

MAY 2019

director as I cannot manage the process myself,” Khattoare explains.

“I would also like to get some BDMs on the road to get a presence in the Midlands and up North too.”

But the strategy Khattoare wishes to take to add to team Kuflink is by focussing on the individual rather than the experience.

“Internally, we have had staff from elsewhere in the business who have joined our investor relationships team as they have proven great customer service skills,” he explains.

“I look at drive and passion first and then I believe we can educate them in the way we do things at Kuflink. You see a lot of people in the industry who have the knowledge but don’t have the drive and passion to take it to the next level.”

Kuflink has a wave of new joiners this month who will be covering a variety of roles so it is certainly a case of watch this space.

But how about new joiners into the marketplace? Khattoare has some words of wisdom to those considering such a move.

“What new entrants have to think about before they enter this market is whether they can deploy funds and make a margin,” he explains.

“Ultimately the person who is going to have to pay otherwise is the borrower. There are a lot of factors a new entrant needs to consider.”

Good reputation is key in both bridging and P2P, and unlike new entrants who have to work on building this reputation up, Khattoare says that Kuflink is in a position where they can say no to deals if they don’t fit.

“We are in a position, which is great for us as a business, where we can say no to deals because we have a good reputation in the marketplace.”

The Kuflink way

Khattoare explains that for Kuflink, the struggle to get the right deals on board thus far has been down to rates and LTVs. Khattoare admits that although they are not the most rate competitive, they are certainly aiming to perfect their offering and widen www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

Cover News

Narinder and the bridging finance team at Kuflink

“I believe that this is an industry ahead of its time, and in the future everyone will know about it – whether it is called P2P or marketplace lending” their reach across more of the UK in order to attract the best deals and continue to see an influx of investors on their platform.

Khattoare proudly explains that both “flexibility and speed” are the best features of his lender, and that despite not being “perfect”, Kuflink are still quick at getting things done.

With plans for national expansion in an uncertain climate, Khattoare is not fazed.

“As a lender you need to diversify as most of your lending should not purely be segregated in the South East,” he says.

“We are comfortable. We have a very experienced underwriting team who will scrutinise the valuation and will even phone local agents themselves just to get a second opinion.”

Khattoare also hopes to follow www.specialistfinanceintroducer.com

suit with the rest of the industry as returns change in the P2P space. “It is not about your returns, it is about the quality of the loan,” explains Khattoare.

“I think rates are going to get more competitive and I think that is the way of the market, with some bigger players doing so already. We will probably follow suit at some point.”

Over the next 12 months, Khattoare is clear in what he predicts will happen to the marketplace.

“I think we are going to see new products come to fruition,” he explains. There will be different forms of lending with different forms of security and opportunities for investors to diversify their funds on our platform.”

This is something that Kuflink hopes to capitalise on over the next

12 months, to add to their suite of products so that brokers see them as the top option and that they don’t get lost in the crowd.

Hitting headline grabbing targets may be the agenda for some, but for Kuflink that is not the main goal.

“For us, it is not about getting the loan book to half a billion or a billion pounds,” Khattoare explains.

“What we want to do is grow the business organically and do deals that are right for us as a business.

Anyone can lend money, but can they get that money back in and make it work again? That is the most important thing.”

Speaking to Khattoare it looks as though they can weather any storm, and instead of going for the very best rates and LTVs, Kuflink are keen to stay calm and measured to get what they do best even better.

The marketplace may continue to see new entrants, but it would be worth listening to those who know this market, and Khattoare shows that experience and a good reputation can build success in ways that making the headlines cannot.  MAY 2019

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EXPERTISE FOR EVERY LOAN Funds in 5 days When a new client approached us needing to borrow £230,000 to urgently repay debt, Kuflink knew we had to act quickly.

Our experienced team spoke to the clients’ broker at length and, after a thorough look at their portfolio, agreed to secure the loan against 8x 2-bed flats with a combined value of £405,000. We took a first legal charge over these properties with a total LTV of 57%.

From application to completion, this loan took a total of just 5 days – a great example of our fast finance in practice!

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Auction Finance in a Flash Our client ran a successful online business and had paid an auction deposit on their first commercial premises, which they now needed to fund quickly to meet the auction deadline.

The property was purchased for £400,000 and minus the deposit and a contribution from the client’s own money, they needed to borrow £268,000 at a LTV of 67%.

We took a first legal charge over the security and turned this loan around in 12 days, helping our client to comfortably meet their deadline and open shop as soon as possible!

Bespoke Commercial Finance An experienced restaurateur was nearing the end of his current loan term and needed to secure a quick bridge whilst he negotiated a long-term option. He needed to borrow £420,000 against the semi-commercial security, a three-story pub and restaurant in Croydon with living accommodation above.

With a loan to value of 56% and a 9-month term, this facility gave our client plenty of time to find a commercial mortgage that suited him and allowed him to focus on making a success of his business instead of worrying about his finances.

Loans, interest rates and completion times are subject to underwriting criteria. This advert is intended for intermediary use only. Failure to meet the repayment criteria of a loan could result in the security being repossessed. Kuflink Bridging Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Ref No. 723495) Registered office: 21 West Street, Gravesend, Kent DA11 OBF. Company Registration No. 07889226

Bridging Trends

Bridging trends Bridging loan interest rates fell from 0.80% in Q4 2018 to 0.74% in Q1 2019, its lowest level since 2015 according to the latest Bridging Trends data.

The quarterly data developed by bridging lender MT Finance found that the boost in regulated lending in the past three months was responsible for this decline.

LTV’s also decreased to 51.3% in the first quarter of this year, which is a 5.7% decrease from Q4 2018.

Bridging loan volume reached £185.32m in Q1 2019 which is a 20% year-on-year increase, whilst the most popular reason for taking out a bridging loan was for the purchase of an investment property.

The average term of a bridging loan remained at 12 months during the first quarter of this year, with the completion time of 40 days during Q1 2019 being lower than the average completion time of 42 days during Q4 2018.

Regulated bridging loans increased for the first time since Q1 2018, with the number of regulated loans conducted by contributors increasing to 38.3% in Q1 2019.

Gareth Lewis, commercial director at MT Finance, added: “Property investors are continuing to turn to bridging finance as a support tool, as reflected in the 22% utilising the product for investment purposes. With highly professional specialist lenders offering flexible products at competitive rates, bridging finance has become an attractive proposition to those property investors who are looking to expand their portfolio.”

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It would be our specialist subject.

We’re the bridging loan experts.

Shine the spotlight on our bridging loan credentials, and you’ll see why we’ve been making complicated cases simple for so long.

You can rely on our dedicated team to deliver expertise and support, even under pressure.

Find out how we do things differently.

togethermoney.com/bridging Call the Broker team on 0333 355 9771 or speak to your BDM

Lending for the new normal.

For professional intermediary use only. Includes commercial and regulated bridging loan applications over 33 years.

000839 Commercial Bridging 270x205 Bridging Introducer Mastermind.indd 1

08/05/2019 14:01

CHALLENGE US TO FUND YOUR NEXT DEAL Borrow up to £3 million

Funds in 5 days

kuflink.com

Decision in Principle in 4 hours

01474 33 44 88

Loans, interest rates and completion times are subject to underwriting criteria. This advert is intended for intermediary use only.

Failure to meet the repayment criteria of a loan could result in the security being repossessed.

Kuflink Bridging Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. (Ref No. 723495) Registered office: 21 West Street, Gravesend, Kent DA11 OBF. Company Registration No. 07889226