The Mortgage Hut group managing director Chris Schutrups (pictured) told Specialist Lending Solutions that The Blackmore Group had essentially gone from a standstill to building 500 units a year in just a couple of years.
“That’s quite a lot,” he said.
“We are their chosen broker across the whole of the UK working alongside Countrywide, Purplebricks and some other smaller agency partners to make sure we arrange the right finance for buyers.
“So it’s a really big deal for us.”
Good size builders
Schutrups noted there was a significant opportunity for brokers to engage in the new build market and that it was a particularly busy and successful one for the firm.
And he highlighted that it was not necessary to restrict that to relationships with just the big name national builders.
“Too often brokers focus on working with the top five house builders – of which we have one,” he said.
“There are a lot of good size developers who are looking to produce quality homes who are probably the nicest to deal with – they’ve got scale, a really good vision of where they want to be and the product they want to deliver.”
However, he highlighted that brokers needed to ensure they were centred on providing excellent customer service that could add value to the process.
“There are a lot of opportunities out there for brokers, but anyone can do the mortgage, it’s about the relationship you build and if there are any issues or complex cases, that’s where you really show how good you are,” Schutrups continued.
“The new build market is a great business to be involved in, but it takes a slightly different mentality and it maybe it’s more of a slow burn.
“It takes investment in process, systems and other resources because it does work very differently to the traditional second hand one,” he added.
Long term partnership
At present The Mortgage Hut is working alongside Blackmore on the £14m Alston Bank development of 54, two, three, four and five bedroom homes in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire.
It includes having a mortgage adviser on-site to help interested buyers.
Blackmore Group director and head of real estate Ricky Poonia said: “Our long-term partnership with The Mortgage Hut has gone from strength-to-strength, as their team continues to support our site set-up and ongoing management of purchasers, especially around Help to Buy.
“These new homes in the heart of the Ribble Valley are proving to be highly sought after, with reservations outpacing our initial expectations.
“We have 500 build-to-sell units launching this year in the next 12 months and it’s essential we have key advisers like, The Mortgage Hut, to support us,” he added.