Membership news

Together posts record-breaking bridging lending

Together has announced it has generated more than £103 million in short-term commercial finance in just a month. The NACFB Patron’s latest figures reveal it provided more than 260 bridging loans worth £103.6 million in April – a 17% increase on its previous record of £88 million set in July 2021.

Together provides regulated and unregulated bridging finance as well as commercial and residential mortgages and has a loan book of more than £4.4 billion. A spokesperson said the record lending was, in part, because of a number of “larger loans” – worth £5 million and above – during the period and an increased use of technology speeding up transactions.

Commenting on the announcement, Sundeep Patel, director of sales at Together, said: “The demand for short-term finance is continuing to soar across the industry, despite continued global uncertainties and financial pressures on individuals and businesses post-COVID. Our latest lending figures certainly reflect this.”

Together is currently reporting that it has the largest loan book in its 50-year history, rising application numbers as well as a strong pipeline for unregulated bridging products. Recently the lender has also made technological advances to use an automated valuation model for over 70% of its loans.

Rebrand and next generation broker portal at Landbay

Landbay has revealed a new brand with the launch of its next generation broker portal. The rebrand is a step away from the buy-to-let sector’s traditional look and feel – and the brand line, ʻYour lending partner’ reflects the trusted relationships the NACFB Patron has with both intermediary partners and borrowers.

The lender recognised that to provide a better level of service – one that allows brokers to have direct access to underwriters and a fast turnaround at scale – it would have to rethink and redesign the industry’s default approach to case management. Jays Shortt, chief product officer explained that the portal’s design required extensive user research to make it both fast and easy for brokers to submit applications and receive decisions. As such, all systems are now built and maintained in-house, involving users throughout the development process, creating tools to meet their exact needs.

John Goodall, CEO at the NACFB Patron, commented: “The launch of the new broker portal is a milestone we’re exceptionally proud of. Our new brand supports this leap in technology and service, signalling a new chapter for Landbay.”

Jays attributed the success of the portal to the amount of quality work demonstrated by the Landbay team.

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Membership News

Aldermore reveals SMEs to invest £633m in growth

SMEs plan to spend an average of £111,175 on growth strategies, equating to a £633 million total spend for all UK SME businesses, recent research from Aldermore has revealed. Confidence is growing despite supply chain issues and the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis says the NACFB Patron.

Over a third (35%) of UK SMEs are planning to invest in new equipment over the next year. Businesses are also continuing to embrace the shift to online, with 35% planning to improve their online presence and 29% investing in digital marketing.

Expanding their customer base over the next 12 months is the main priority for half (50%) of UK SMEs. Other priorities to drive growth include developing new products and services (26%), improving existing propositions (36%), investing in employee retention (25%), and reacting to the sustainability agenda (29%).

Tim Boag, group managing director, business finance at Aldermore, said: “It’s encouraging to see that SMEs are planning to invest significantly in their business during the next year. Despite broader economic uncertainty, the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing supply chain issues, business confidence remains high, and SMEs are continuing to look to the future: to their recovery, growth and even transformation.”

Shawbrook offers energy efficiency discount to BTL borrowers

Shawbrook has announced that it will offer new buy-to-let mortgage customers an energy efficiency discount, or partial refund, of up to 60bps on arrangement fees where the subject property’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating is ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’. To qualify, borrowers must provide evidence confirming the property’s rating of ‘C’ or above. For example, on a £250,000 mortgage a customer could expect to save up to £1,500 on the arrangement fee.

Where customers wish to purchase an investment property, but it is EPC rated D or below, the customer can use one of the NACFB Patron’s non-regulated bridging products to improve the energy efficiency of the property, before transitioning to a Shawbrook buy-to-let mortgage. If the property is improved to a minimum EPC rating of ‘C’ then the customer will benefit from the energy efficiency discount.

Commenting, Emma Cox, managing director of real estate said: “This product enhancement not only incentivises landlords to improve the energy efficiency rating of their property, but it also actively rewards customers when a property already has a high energy efficiency rating.”

From 2025, the government proposes that all rented properties should have an EPC of ‘C’ or above for new tenancies, then all tenancies from 2028.