Masthaven cuts bridging rate for selected brokers

The rate applies to regulated and unregulated first charge products with a loan to value (LTV) ratio of up to 40%. For products with 50% LTV a new rate of 0.54% has been set.

First 4 Bridging, one of the select distributers, said Masthaven’s decision to drop the rate was an indication of the “highly competitive nature” of bridging at present.

Director Jonathan Caplan said: “Since the start of the new year, it’s been clear that we’ve seen something of a rate war amongst bridging lenders particularly low level LTV products on residential business for those with clean credit records.

“The market is moving particularly quickly – and there will most likely be further responses to these changes.”

Masthaven refreshed its bridging finance product range in November as it opened its doors as a challenger bank after obtaining a banking licence last April.

The bank offers first charge bridges from £100,000 to £5m, alongside second charges from £100,000 to £1m over terms of one to 12 months. It also sells renovation and refurbishment bridging loans deemed difficult to secure from high street lenders because of the condition or state of the property.

Sales and marketing director Richard Deacon said at the time: “Becoming a bank provided us with the opportunity to restructure our bridging loans to be more competitive, whilst still maintaining the excellent customer service that we already deliver to our brokers and intermediaries.”