Gen H said the hires would help to support its intermediary panel with expert advice on often complex products.
Sara Palmer (pictured), sales and distribution director at Gen H, said: “This is our way of saying that we see the important work our brokers are doing and that we are here to support them every step of the way.”
New hires
The three new hires are Joe Solomon, Lewis Banks, and Lisa Taylor, while the lender has also promoted Olivia Sturla to the newly created role of remote BDM for Scotland and the North.
Before joining Gen H, Solomon worked in software-as-a-service (SaaS) and specialist lending. Solomon spent two-and-a-half years with Enra Specialist Finance in business development. Banks has worked in financial services for five years and joins Gen H from Advise Wise, where he worked as a telephone BDM.
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Taylor brings 30 years’ experience to her role at Gen H. She worked previously at NatWest Intermediaries and later at HSBC. At HSBC Intermediaries, she spent six years as a BDM; most recently, she spent three years as a senior BDM at HSBC Life. She will develop Gen H’s Midlands and East patch.
Sturla joined Gen H in 2025 as a broker specialist and has been promoted to her new role, covering Scotland and the North. She previously worked as a consultant and mortgage adviser for Hamptons, Capital Private Finance, and Alexander Hall.
Innovative products
Gen H launched in 2020 with a mission to help people who are otherwise locked out of the housing market due to rising prices and strict affordability rules. It uses a tech-led approach to offer flexible ‘booster’ products that allow friends and family to help a buyer increase their borrowing power or deposit without necessarily living in the house.
Some of its products have six people on a mortgage at once, complexity that means that expert advice is often needed. Flagship products include income boost. This allows up to six people (usually family or friends) to add their income to the application to increase the total loan amount. The company also offers a Deposit Boost, where friends or family can contribute to the deposit as an equity loan or an interest-free loan rather than a gift. This allows them to get their money back (sometimes with a share of any profit) when the house is sold or remortgaged.
The company also offers its own private version of Help to Buy, known as New Build Boost, and has teamed up with a number of builders to provide this. Gen H provides an 80% mortgage, and the builder/Gen H provides a 15% interest-free equity loan to help those with a low or no deposit.
Palmer said that given the unusual nature of these products, expert BDMs such as the business’ new hires are vital.
She continued: “Brokers provide an invaluable service in arranging more than 90% of mortgages in the UK. The housing market is complex and though there are more mortgage options available than ever, these products can be confusing and intimidating for borrowers – that’s what makes expert broker advice so important.”
