60 seconds with...Katie Tucker
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Chief operating officer, Private Finance
Can you explain what Private Finance does?
We arrange high net worth finance for property purchases and remortgages. More than half our business is generated from our partnerships with Jackson Stops and Staff, Strutt & Parker and a handful of other estate agents. The rest is personal referrals and regulars.
How has the high net worth market fared in the credit crunch?
Not too badly. A lot of our clients’ income is based on investments, trusts and lump sums so unemployment has not affected their borrowing ability to a great extent. Also, the mortgage is a relatively small proportion of their income so lenders have seen fewer arrears. And properties are either so unique they have held their value or are in London so they have not been badly hit by falling values.
What difference does working with private banks make?
The main advantage of private banks is bespoke underwriting. Where high street lenders have spent the past five years switching to automated systems private banks have genuinely mandated underwriters to consider clients’ needs as a financial package.
Properties with 20 bedrooms, 80 acres of land and clients with only one year’s accounts don’t faze them. They also look at assets and bonds held overseas. And the products are different too. Some offer £400,000 bridging overdrafts or second charge loans.
How have you found the move from mortgageforce?
Quite painless. It’s great being back in an office every day and having colleagues to bounce ideas off. Managing director Simon Checkley and I get on well, although we are both ideas people so sometimes it’s hard to keep the enthusiasm to a manageable level or take sensible notes.
And I feel valuable already. We have a big expansion plan in place so I’m reviewing the non-mortgage provisions we offer as well as recruiting the right sort of brokers for our client type.
What are your predictions for the market this year?
Every lender I have spoken to is clinging to last year’s figures as the lending target for this year and pledging no more than a 10% increase, so it will be slow.
While the property sector has improved a bit in the past few months a lot of developers are dumping one and two-bedroom flats on the market.
This could be a drag on the average price so we will probably see no more than a 5% rise in house prices year-on-year.
Interview by christine toner
