Aldermore ready to enter mortgage market
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Aldermore is gearing up to launch a range of mortgages exclusively for brokers within the next three months.
The lender plans to offer prime products for both residential and buy-to-let mortgages but also wants to cater for prime borrowers currently unable to meet lenders’ tight underwriting criteria.
It will not offer mortgages to borrowers direct.
The mortgage arm at Aldermore is being headed up by Colin Snowdon, the former chief executive of Wave and the man who launched The Mortgage Business and Britannia Building Society’s Verso.
Richard Spinks, former director of product development and credit at Wave, joins his former colleague as commercial operations director.
Mark Elden has been appointed to the role of head of commercial and product development while Robert Barnard has joined the firm as business development manager.
Colin Snowdon, chief executive of residential mortgages at Aldermore
Snowdon says: “Brokers tell us they have been let down by lenders who have abandoned them and their clients during the recent market slump.
“We intend to give them the ability to place creditworthy business.”
The Aldermore brand was created following a merger between Ruffler Bank and Base Commercial Mortgages last July.
The bank has offered commercial finance to small and medium-sized firms and savings products.
Snowdon was brought on board last November to investigate the possibility of launching an intermediary residential mortgage lender and the bank signalled its intention to enter the mortgage market in January this year.
Snowdon has now confirmed that the research phase of Aldermore’s plan is complete and the expected launch date for the intermediary arm is Q2 2010.
Aldermore’s products will be available to directly authorised brokers and appointed representatives via a panel that includes Legal & General, Mortgage Intelligence, Mortgage Next, and Personal Touch Financial Services.
Products will also be available through Pink Home Loans, PMS, and 3mc.
Mortgages via Aldermore will be underwritten and serviced at a new offices in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Lending will be funded by retail deposits and all mortgages will be held on Aldermore’s balance sheet.
Aldermore did not need to apply to the Financial Services Authority for a licence to enter the mortgage market as it had already the relevant regulatory permissions in place.
Snowdon would not reveal specific lending objectives but he says: “We have ambitious targets - this is not a ‘softly-softly’ pilot.”
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Readers' comments (11)
Frank Jurga | 8 Mar 2010 8:55 am
Bring it on. The current lenders are stupid. I'm dealing with an existing client who has ported a mortgage twice and is now entirely living off capital. He wants to port the mortgage one more time to buy a property to accomodate his mother as well as his family and then pay off the mortgage within a couple of years when her property sells. Lender won't do it on affordability calcs.
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Louise Riley | 8 Mar 2010 9:02 am
FANTASTIC NEWS !!!! Brokers need good news like this.
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Danny Lovey | 8 Mar 2010 9:05 am
Well, it sounds like good news for the market, but only time will tell. Certainly there is a need for a lender who knows prime business when it sees it and does not find a reason not to do it, especially for the self employed. There is a huge market out there for a lender who will inteligently underwrite.
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Sid Siddiqui | 8 Mar 2010 9:33 am
A long awaited product. Hope ISIS can do some business.
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Anonymous | 8 Mar 2010 9:54 am
More good news for the market but once again via limited distribution. Brokers with smaller networks are being bullied out again, as with Kensington. Come on lenders, offer a true intermediary product available across the board.
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salil chaudhari | 8 Mar 2010 11:50 am
A step in the right direction. Most welcome.
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Graham Griffin | 8 Mar 2010 12:01 pm
Especially good if they also ensure the submission process is efficient and treat every case on its merits.
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danny o' sullivan | 8 Mar 2010 12:55 pm
The anonymous broker who complains about limited distribution should consider bullying the company he works for because it sounds like he is boxing with two hands tied behind his back
Broker friendly lenders will not change the current market because they can only work within the constraints being set by the bigger players but at least brokers may be able to place a few more cases that are worthy of support
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Mo | 8 Mar 2010 4:11 pm
It is about time we had a proactive lender. But will they be?
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Don Maclennan | 12 May 2010 9:19 am
It is about time that some common sense was introduced to Buy TO Let finance houses The market will continue to grow in line with the rest of Europe and Banks in general have not recognised the opportunities available to them
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